Muller v. Oregon

Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Oregon limited women to 10 hours of work per day in factories and laundries. The owner of a laundry was fined for requiring a woman to work more than 10 hours. He challenged the law as an unconstitutional interference with liberty of contract under Lochner.

Significance

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Oregon law, relying heavily on the ‘Brandeis Brief’ — a sociological and medical argument showing that long hours harmed women’s health and reproductive capacity. Justice Brewer’s opinion held that women’s ‘physical structure and maternal functions’ justified special protective legislation. While the decision was progressive for its time (sustaining labor protections), it also reinforced gender stereotypes and was eventually superseded by equal protection analysis under Craig v. Boren (1976).

Category

US Federal Case Law