Morehead v. New York

Petitioner

Warden Morehead

Respondent

People of State of New York

Petitioner's Claim

That the minimum wage law that allowed the New York State Industrial Commission to fix wages based upon the class of services provided by female employees denies the employer the right to enter into contracts as provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Henry Epstein

Chief Lawyers for Respondent

Nathan L. Miller, Arthur Levitt

Justices for the Court

Pierce Butler (writing for the Court), James Clark McReynolds, Owen Josephus Roberts, George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter

Justices Dissenting

Louis D. Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan Fiske Stone

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

1 June 1936

Decision

The New York act was found unconstitutional due to its violation of the right of due process of the law between the employer and the employee.

Related Cases

• Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905).
• Bunting v. State of Oregon, 243 U.S. 426 (1917).
• Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525 (1923).
• Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923).
• West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937).

Further Readings

• Ayers, Mary Ellen. "The Quest for a Living Wage: The History of the Federal Minimum Wage Program." Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 120, no. 12, December 1997, p. 40.
• Britannica Online. "Adkins v. Children's Hospital." http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/5/59.html
• U.S. Department of Labor. "The Women's Bureau: An Overview 1920-1997." http://www.dol.gov/dol/wb/public/info_about_wb/interwb.htm