McLeod v. Threlkeld

Summary

The Court held that a cook employed by an independent contractor to prepare and serve meals to a traveling railroad maintenance gang was not engaged in commerce under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Although the cook's work supported employees of an interstate railroad, furnishing their meals was too remote from the movement of interstate commerce because it served their personal needs rather than transportation itself. Justice Murphy, joined by three Justices, dissented and would have treated the cook's work as sufficiently integrated with interstate commerce to warrant coverage.