“The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.”

Last month a somewhat unusual business trial was settled with a group of Dairy Farm drivers winning $5 million dollars in overtime pay.  This was not because anyone tried to cheat them out of anything or withheld pay, but because in the overtime regulations, someone forgot a comma. The state law read this way:

In the state provisions that list which activities did not qualify for overtime, there is no comma between “shipment” and “or.”

The canning, processing, preserving,
freezing, drying, marketing, storing,
packing for shipment or distribution of:
(1) Agricultural produce;
(2) Meat and fish products; and
(3) Perishable foods.

And so, the lack of the comma gave the delivery drivers (who never packed, but only drove) an argument that their work was not exempt from overtime.  And, the company ended up seeing it that way too after an appeals court sided with the drivers.  What we write, like what we say, makes a difference.  What only seemed a like a misplaced comma, turned out to be costly.

We have our own mistakes of misplaced and misused words that we must be cognizant of at all times. The words we use, and the words we don’t are powerful reminders and cues to those around us as to who we are, what we believe and what example we follow.  Let’s do our best today to pay close attention to how we use our words.

Reference:  Proverbs 10:32 (New Living Translation)