United States v. Darby

Facts

Darby ran a lumber business in Georgia. According to the indictment, he acquired raw materials, manufactured them into finished lumber, and intended when he made it to ship it in interstate commerce to customers outside the state. He did ship a large part of it. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour in its first year and a maximum workweek of forty-four hours without extra pay for overtime. It barred shipping goods made by employees employed in violation of those terms. It also barred employing workers in the production of goods for interstate commerce at other than those wages and hours, and it required employers to keep records of their employees' wages and hours. Willful violation was punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000. The indictment had three kinds of counts. Some charged shipping lumber out of state that was made by workers paid less than the minimum wage or worked more than the maximum hours without overtime pay. Others charged employing workers to produce lumber for interstate commerce on those terms. One charged failure to keep the required records of hours. Darby's employees were not alleged to be engaged in interstate commerce themselves.

Issues

1. Does Congress have power under the Commerce Clause to prohibit the interstate shipment of goods made by employees whose wages are below a prescribed minimum or whose hours exceed a prescribed maximum?
2. Can Congress prohibit employing workers in the production of goods for interstate commerce at other than prescribed wages and hours, and require employers to keep records of those wages and hours?
3. Do the Fifth Amendment or the Tenth Amendment bar these wage, hour and record requirements?

Holding

Congress may prohibit interstate shipment of goods made under substandard wage and hour conditions. It may also prohibit employing workers to produce goods for interstate commerce on those terms, and require wage and hour records. The Fifth and Tenth Amendments do not forbid this. Hammer v. Dagenhart is overruled.