Briefs before the New York State Court of Appeals in Joseph Tipaldo Minimum Wage Case, 1933
Collection Number: 5353
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Briefs before the New York State Court of Appeals in Joseph Tipaldo Minimum Wage Case, 1933
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5353
Abstract:
Consists of the briefs filed with New York's Court of Appeals and the United States
Supreme Court by John J. Bennett, attorney general of New York. Also included is A
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK MINIMUM WAGE LAW CASE, prepared by the Women's Bureau
of the United States Department of Labor in 1936. This pamphlet analyzes the social
significance of the Tipaldo case.
Creator:
Bennette, John J.
Quanitities:
0.5 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
This case resulted in New York State's 1933 minimum wage law for women and children
being declared unconstitutional. Both New York State's Court of Appeals and the United
States Supreme Court found that a state may not regulate the wages of adult women,
because to do so would interfere with their freedom to contract, guaranteed to them
by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.
The case began when Joseph Tipaldo, manager of the Spotlight Laundry of Brooklyn,
was indicted by a Kings County Grand Jury on November 2, 1934, and charged with "altering
books and records for the purpose of concealing the failure to pay female employees
the minimum fair wage prescribed in a mandatory order of the Industrial Commissioner
of New York State." Tipaldo claimed the minimum wage law operated to deprive him of
his liberty and property without due process of law and compelled him to be a witness
against himself in a criminal case. The law required him to keep a record of the wages
paid to and hours worked by his women employees. Tipaldo sued for a writ of habeas
corpus in April, 1935. The writ was denied by Justice May of New York's Supreme Court
who found the 1933 minimum wage law to be constitutional. Tipaldo appealed to the
Court of Appeals and this decision was reversed. The United States Supreme Court upheld
the Court of Appeals decision.
This case resulted in New York State's 1933 minimum wage law for women and children
being declared unconstitutional. Both New York State's Court of Appeals and the United
States Supreme Court found that a state may not regulate the wages of adult women,
because to do so would interfere with their freedom to contract, guaranteed to them
by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.
The case began when Joseph Tipaldo, manager of the Spotlight Laundry of Brooklyn,
was indicted by a Kings County Grand Jury on November 2, 1934, and charged with "altering
books and records for the purpose of concealing the failure to pay female employees
the minimum fair wage prescribed in a mandatory order of the Industrial Commissioner
of New York State." Tipaldo claimed the minimum wage law operated to deprive him of
his liberty and property without due process of law and compelled him to be a witness
against himself in a criminal case. The law required him to keep a record of the wages
paid to and hours worked by his women employees. Tipaldo sued for a writ of habeas
corpus in April, 1935. The writ was denied by Justice May of New York's Supreme Court
who found the 1933 minimum wage law to be constitutional. Tipaldo appealed to the
Court of Appeals and this decision was reversed. The United States Supreme Court upheld
the Court of Appeals decision.
Also included is "A Brief History of the New York Minimum Wage Law Case," prepared
by the Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor in 1936. This pamphlet
analyzes the social significance of the Tipaldo case.
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INFORMATION FOR USERS
Briefs before the New York State Court of Appeals in Joseph Tipaldo Minimum Wage Case
#5353. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University
Library.
Names:
Tipaldo, Joseph.
Morehead, Frederick L.
Bennett, John J.
Spotlight laundry.
Subjects:
Wages -- Law and legislation -- New York (State)
Labor laws and legislation. New York (State)
Wages. Law and legislation. New York (State)
Wages. Minimum wage. Law and legislation. New York (State)
Wages. Women. New York (State)
Women. Employment. Law and legislations. New York (State)
Women. Employment. Law and legislation. United States.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
A Brief History of the New York Minimum Wage Case
|
1936 |
Scope and Contents
2 copies
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
A New Chapter in the History of the New York Minimum Wage Case
|
1936 |
Scope and Contents
Subtitle: A Supplement to A Brief History of the New York Minimum Wage Case; October
1936; 2 copies
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Respondent's Brief on the Law
|
1935 |
Scope and Contents
3 copies
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Factual Brief for Respondent
|
1935 |
Scope and Contents
3 copies
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Factual Brief by the Attorney General of New York State to the United States Supreme
Court in the New York State Minimum Wage Case
|