In the 1933 case Glenn et al. v. Field Packing Co., the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Field Packing Company, a Kentucky-based meatpacking firm that had been sued by its employees for alleged violation of labor laws. The workers claimed they were owed additional compensation under the state's "seven-day statute," which required employers to pay their staff extra if they worked more than seven consecutive days without a day off. However, the court found that this law did not apply to companies engaged in interstate commerce like Field Packing Co., as it was preempted by federal legislation - specifically, an exemption within the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA). This act allowed such businesses to operate on Sundays when necessary for transactional purposes with other states or foreign nations and thus superseded any conflicting state regulations regarding work hours or conditions.

In the dissenting opinion for Glenn et al. v. Field Packing Co., it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a state law regulating working hours in meatpacking plants violated employers' and employees' freedom of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment. The dissent contended that there was no reasonable ground for interfering with an individual’s liberty to contract labor, as long as they were not harming public health or safety. They believed this case did not present such circumstances, thus making the regulation unnecessary and unconstitutional interference by government into private affairs. Furthermore, they pointed out inconsistencies in how similar cases had been handled previously by courts, arguing against arbitrary distinctions between different types of businesses when applying regulations about work hours.