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FAA Transportation Workers Arbitration Exception After Bissonnette: Who is Engaged in Foreign or Interstate Commerce?

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Monday, October 21, 2024 (in 10 days)

1:00pm-2:30pm EDT, 10:00am-11:30am PDT

or call 1-800-926-7926

This CLE webinar will discuss the transportation worker exception to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), specifically how lower courts are applying Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St. L.L.C., 601 U.S. ___ (2024), and the circuit split over "last mile" transportation workers. The panel will also address how to structure arbitration agreements that may apply to transportation workers who are not covered under the purview of the FAA.

Description

Arbitration agreements--and the class action waivers in them--are an important dispute-resolution tool for employers in the transportation industry. However, the FAA’s otherwise broad reach does not extend to seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.

In Bissonnette v. LePage, the Supreme Court may have increased the number of workers exempt under the FAA when it held that an employee can be an exempt transportation worker even if employed by a company that is not in the transportation industry. The FAA simply refers to workers "engaged in foreign or interstate commerce," which the Court noted means they must play a direct and "necessary role in the free flow of goods" across borders.

Bissonnette leaves for the lower courts to wrestle with what this means. Many predict protracted and expensive discovery into worker job responsibilities. Bissonnette also left open a circuit split over how to classify "last mile" or "last leg" drivers who never leave their states but deliver goods or packages that arrive across state lines.

Listen as this program reviews the transportation worker exception to the FAA and how lower courts and companies are responding to the questions Bissonnette did not answer.

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Outline

  1. Overview of transportation worker exemption
  2. Analysis Bissonnette v. LaPage Bakeries
  3. Lower court analysis of "engaged in foreign or interstate commerce"
  4. Last mile drivers and current circuit split
  5. Recent cases
  6. Strategies for employers

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What is a direct and necessary role in the free flow of goods across borders?
  • Can arbitration agreements be enforced against exempt workers under state law?
  • Are class action waivers valid for exempt employees even if arbitration agreements are not?

Faculty

Core, Braden
Braden K. Core

Partner
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary

Mr. Core represents motor carriers, forwarders, and logistics companies in regulatory compliance, contract reviews, and...  |  Read More

Devane, Laura
Laura E. Devane

Shareholder
Littler Mendelson

Ms. Devane advises and represents employers in a broad range of employment matters. She devotes a substantial amount of...  |  Read More

Sharma, Prasad
Prasad Sharma

Partner
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary

Mr. Sharma’s practice focuses on state and federal legislative and regulatory advocacy work and an array of...  |  Read More

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You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

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