West Coast Hotel v. Parrish

Appellant

West Coast Hotel Company

Appellee

Elsie Parrish

Appellant's Claim

That Parrish was not due back pay to bring her up to the level she would have received under Washington's 1913 minimum wage law.

Chief Lawyers for Appellant

John W. Roberts, E. L. Skeel

Chief Lawyers for Appellee

C. B. Conner, Sam M. Driver

Justices for the Court

Louis D. Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Charles Evans Hughes (writing for the Court), Owen Josephus Roberts, Harlan Fiske Stone

Justices Dissenting

Pierce Butler, James Clark McReynolds, George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

29 March 1937

Decision

The public interest in setting a minimum wage for women and children is more important than freedom of contract.

Related Cases

• Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905).
• Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1918).
• Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525 (1923).
• Morehead v. New York ex rel. Tipaldo, 298 U.S. 587 (1936).
• United States v. Darby, 312 U.S. 100 (1941).

Sources

Cushman, Clare, ed. The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789-1993. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1993.

Friedman, Leon, and Fred L. Israel, eds. The Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court 1789-1969: Their Lives and Major Opinions. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1969.