Ambiguity caused by the lack of an Oxford (or serial) comma has led to legal wrangling for dairy delivery drivers in Maine.
Maine law provides an overtime exemption for employees whose work includes “canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment and distribution of” certain perishable foods.
Because there’s no comma after the word “shipment”, it’s not clear if “distribution” is part of the exempted activities or not, causing this dispute to wind up in court.