In the case of Mitchell, Secretary of Labor v. Joyce Agency, Inc., 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a real estate agency that managed rental properties could be considered engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA requires employers involved in interstate commerce to pay their employees minimum wage and overtime compensation. The court ruled that while some activities performed by real estate agencies may affect interstate commerce indirectly, they do not directly engage in it as defined by FLSA standards. Therefore, such agencies are not subject to its requirements concerning wages and hours worked.

In the dissenting opinion for Mitchell, Secretary of Labor v. Joyce Agency, Inc., it was argued that the majority's interpretation of "retail or service establishment" in Section 13(a)(2) of the Fair Labor Standards Act was too narrow and inconsistent with Congress' intent. The dissent believed that a business could qualify as a retail or service establishment even if its sales were not made directly to end users but through independent contractors who then sold to consumers. They contended that this broader interpretation would better serve Congress' goal of exempting small local businesses from wage and hour regulations while still ensuring protections for workers in larger industries where labor abuses are more likely to occur. Furthermore, they criticized the majority's reliance on legislative history rather than statutory text and precedent when interpreting ambiguous terms within laws.