Muller v. Oregon - wikipedia Muller v. Oregon Muller v. Oregon Supreme Court of the United States Argued January 15, 1908 Decided February 24, 1908 Full case name Curt Muller, Plaintiff in Error v. The State of Oregon. Appellant 's claim : Oregon 's 1903 maximum hours law is unconstitutional. Citations 208 U.S. 412 ( more ) 28 S. Ct. 324 ; 52 L. Ed. 551 ; 1908 U.S. LEXIS 1452 Prior history Defendant convicted ; affirmed, 85 P. 855 ( Or. 1906 ) Subsequent history None Holding Oregon 's limit on the working hours of women was constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, as it was justified by the strong state interest in protecting women 's health. Supreme Court of Oregon affirmed. Court membership Chief Justice Melville Fuller Associate Justices John M. Harlan David J. Brewer Edward D. White Rufus W. Peckham Joseph McKenna Oliver W. Holmes, Jr. William R. Day William H. Moody Case opinions Majority Brewer, joined unanimously Laws applied U.S. Const. amend. XIV ; 1903 Or. Laws p. 148 Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 ( 1908 ), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court. Women were provided by state mandate, lesser work - hours than allotted to men. The poised question was whether women 's liberty to negotiate a contract with an employer should be equal to a man 's. There was no such thing as sex discrimination in 1908, because gender based discrimination had not been recognized until the case of Reed v. Reed, in 1971 ; here, the test was not under the equal protections clause, but a test based on the general police powers of the state to protect the welfare of women when it infringed on her fundamental right to negotiate contracts ; inequality was not a deciding factor because the sexes were inherently different in their particular conditions and had completely different functions ; usage of labor laws that were made to nurture women 's welfare and for the `` benefit of all '' people was decided to be not a violation of the contact clause within the U.S. constitution. The case describes women as having dependency upon men in a manner that such women needed their rights to be preserved by the state ; their `` rights '' were in effect, to have maternal gender roles, again however to the loss of some of their contractual liberties. The quotes for the decision follows : `` woman has always been dependent upon man. '' Id. at 421. `` in the struggle for subsistence she is not an equal competitor with her brother. '' Id. at 422. `` Though limitations upon personal and contractual rights may be removed by legislation, there is that in her disposition and habits of life which will operate against a full assertion of those rights. '' Id. `` her physical structure and a proper discharge of her maternal functions -- having in view not merely her own health, but the well - being of the race -- justify legislation to protect her from the greed as well as the passion of man. '' Id. `` The limitations which this statute places upon her contractual powers, upon her right to agree with her employer as to the time she shall labor, are not imposed solely for her benefit, but also largely for the benefit of all. '' Id. The ruling had important implications for protective labor legislation and was decided just three years after Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 ( 1905 ), in which a New York law restricting the weekly working hours of bakers in the state was invalidated. Contents 1 Background 2 Judgment 3 Significance of the case 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Further reading 7 External links Background Curt Muller, the owner of a laundry business, was convicted of violating Oregon labor laws by making a female employee work more than ten hours in a single day. Muller was fined $10. Muller appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, both of which upheld the constitutionality of the labor law and affirmed his conviction. Judgment In Justice David Josiah Brewer 's unanimous opinion, the Court upheld the Oregon regulation. The Court did not overrule Lochner, but instead distinguished it on the basis of `` the difference between the sexes ''. The child - bearing physiology and social role of women provided a strong state interest in reducing their working hours. That woman 's physical structure and the performance of maternal functions place her at a disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence is obvious. This is especially true when the burdens of motherhood are upon her. Even when they are not, by abundant testimony of the medical fraternity continuance for a long time on her feet at work, repeating this from day to day, tends to injurious effects upon the body, and as healthy mothers are essential to vigorous offspring, the physical well - being of woman becomes an object of public interest and care in order to preserve the strength and vigor of the race. 208 U.S. at 412. `` When the constitutionality of the Oregon ten - hour law for women was challenged, Florence Kelley committed The National Consumers League to it 's ( sic ) defense. As Kathryn Kish Sklar has explained, NCL 's research director, Josephine Goldmark, prepared a pathbreaking brief, of which only 2 pages consisted of traditional abstract legal reasoning, and over 100 pages offered sociological evidence. Her brother - in - law, the future Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, argued the case in the U.S. Supreme Court. Goldmark and Brandeis 's innovation would come to be known as a `` Brandeis Brief, '' and many others would later be modeled on it. '' Goldmark and her team were able to assemble 98 out of the 118 pages of the brief, meaning much of the credit for the brief goes to her. Significance of the case Groups like the National Consumer League ( which included Florence Kelley and Josephine Goldmark as feminists ) and the state won shorter hours for women. However, many equal - rights feminists opposed the ruling, since it allowed laws based on stereotyped gender roles that restricted women 's rights and financial independence. While it provided protection from long hours to white women, it did not extend to women of color, food processors, agricultural workers, and women who worked in white - collar jobs. The government interest in public welfare outweighed the freedom of contract that is displayed in the 14th Amendment and the effects of Muller v. Oregon did not change until the New Deal days in the 1930s. It was also a watershed in the development of maternalist reforms. The ruling was criticized because it set a precedent to use sex differences, and in particular women 's child - bearing capacity, as a basis for separate legislation, supporting the idea that the family has priority over women 's rights as workers. `` Until the late 1930s, when the Fair Labor Standards Act created gender - neutral workplace protections, the Equal Rights Amendment championed by the NWP would have demolished the gains for women workers won in Muller. This dispute between feminists who valued protection and feminists who valued equality continued until the latter group gained the upper hand in the 1970s. '' See also Bunting v. Oregon Brandeis Brief List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 208 Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 ( 1905 ) Adkins v. Children 's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525 ( 1923 ) West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 ( 1937 ) Notes Jump up ^ `` Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ) ''. Wikipedia. Jump up ^ Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412, 423 ( 1908 ) Jump up ^ Id. at 422 ^ Jump up to : Baron, Ava ( 1981 ). `` Protective Labor Legislation and the Cult of Domesticity ''. Journal of Family Issues. SAGE Publications. 2 ( 1 ) : 25 -- 38. doi : 10.1177 / 0192513X8100200103. Jump up ^ 415 Protecting Women Wage - Workers, Women 's America, Refocusing the Past. Jump up ^ Ginsburg, Ruth Bader. `` Lessons Learned from Louis D. Brandeis BrandeisNOW. '' BrandeisNOW. N.p., 28 January 2016. Web. 28 September 2016. Jump up ^ Brandeis, L.D. ( 1907 ). The Brandeis Brief. Retrieved January 27, 2010, from http://www.law.louisville.edu/library/collections/brandeis/node/235 Jump up ^ Woloch, N. ( 1996 ). Muller v. Oregon : A Brief History with Documents. Boston : Bedford Books of St. Martin 's Press. Jump up ^ Barney, S.L. ( 1999 ). `` Maternalism and the Promotion of Scientific Medicine during the Industrial Transformation of Appalachia, 1880 - 1930. '' NWSA Journal, 11 ( 3 ), 68 -- 92. Jump up ^ Koven, S., & Michel, S. ( 1993 ). Mothers of a New World, Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States ( ). Routledge. Jump up ^ `` Muller v. State of Oregon. '' Open Collections Program : Women Working,. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016. Further reading Becker, Mary E. ( 1986 ). `` From Muller v. Oregon to Fetal Vulnerability Policies ''. University of Chicago Law Review. The University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 53, No. 4. 53 ( 4 ) : 1219 -- 1273. doi : 10.2307 / 1599748. JSTOR 1599748. Bernstein, David E. ( 2011 ). Rehabilitating Lochner : Defending Individual Rights against Progressive Reform. Chapter 4. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0 - 226 - 04353 - 3 Cushman, Clare ( 2001 ). Supreme Court Decisions and Women 's Rights : Milestone to Equality. Washington, DC : Congressional Quarterly. pp. 17 -- 18. ISBN 1 - 56802 - 614 - 5. Woloch, Nancy ( 1996 ). Muller v. Oregon : A Brief History with Documents. Boston : Bedford Books of St. Martin 's Press. ISBN 0 - 312 - 12816 - 9. External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : Muller v. Oregon Full text of the decision courtesy of Findlaw.com Muller vs. Oregon Women Working ( 1800 - 1930 ) Oyez Citation Laundry List of laundry topics Chemicals Biological detergent Bleach Fabric softener Laundry detergent Washing Combo washer dryer Dry cleaning Tunnel washer Wet cleaning Washboard Washing machine Drying Clothes dryer Clothes horse Clothes line Drying cabinet Hills Hoist Mangle Folding FoldiMate Laundroid Finishing Box mangle Clothes hanger Ironing Concepts Colour fastness Fulling Ironing Posting Shrinkage Stain Organizations Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance French laundries of California Laundry and Dry Cleaning International Union Laundry Workers Industrial Union Project Laundry List Worshipful Company of Launderers Culture Dhobi Housekeeping Industrial laundry Laundry symbol Accessories Clothespin Dispensing ball Hamper Laundry ball Washing paddle Law Barbier v. Connolly Kimball Laundry Co. v. United States Muller v. Oregon Pearson v. Chung Yick Wo v. Hopkins Places Baths and wash houses in Britain Dhobi Ghat Laundry room Lavoir Self - service laundry Tvättstuga Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muller_v._Oregon&oldid=817118730 '' Categories : 1908 in United States case law History of women 's rights in the United States Louis Brandeis Sexism United States labor case law United States substantive due process case law United States Supreme Court cases Laundry Working time Legal history of Oregon United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 26 December 2017, at 07 : 24. About Wikipedia

Question: who won the case in mueller v. oregon
Answer: Oregon