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Second Circuit Review: The 2nd Circuit and the Federal Arbitration Act Transportation Worker Exemption
March 27, 2023
Litigation of counsel Martin Flumenbaum and firm Chairman Brad Karp’s latest Second Circuit Review column, “The 2nd Circuit and the Federal Arbitration Act Transportation Worker Exemption,” appeared in the March 23 issue of the New York Law Journal. The authors discuss a recent decision in Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries in which the Second Circuit revisited its prior decision finding that truck drivers who deliver baked goods do not fall within the “transportation workers” exemption in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Workers who fall within the FAA exemption cannot be compelled to arbitrate any claims against their employer. Following a Supreme Court decision addressing the scope of this exemption in Southwest Airlines v. Saxon, there was significant disagreement among members of the Second Circuit regarding the question of whether employees who perform transportation work in a non-transportation industry can be “transportation workers” exempt from the FAA. The uncertainty around how to correctly apply Saxon may lead to the Supreme Court weighing in again on the scope of the exemption. Litigation associate Megan Gao assisted in the preparation of this column.
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