Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc.
Supreme Court
458 U.S. 564 (1982)
Welder Danny Griffin (plaintiff) had $412.50 withheld from his wages by Oceanic Contractors (defendant) as a transportation deposit, which the company refused to return after Griffin was injured before his contract ended; Griffin sued for the withheld wages, and the trial court awarded $6,881.60 in penalty wages under a maritime statute assessing two days' pay for each day payment was wrongfully delayed, calculated over more than four years from Griffin's injury until the judgment was finally satisfied. Oceanic argued this produced an absurdly disproportionate result (roughly $302,000 total), but the Fifth Circuit affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a federal wage-penalty statute's plain, uncapped language must be applied as written even where doing so produces a penalty grossly disproportionate to the amount of wages originally withheld.