On August 19, the Ninth Circuit delivered the latest guidance in the long-running debate over the Federal Arbitration Act’s (FAA) scope. It held that Amazon delivery drivers can move forward with a nationwide class action — in court, not arbitration — because they fall within the FAA’s transportation worker exemption.
The case, Bernadean Rittmann v. Amazon.com, Inc., et al, Case No. 19-35381, dealt with a “last mile” delivery driver through Amazon’s app-based delivery program, Amazon Flex (AmFlex), who occasionally crossed state lines, but completed most deliveries intrastate. Upon starting work, the driver signed an agreement requiring him to bring claims against Amazon in arbitration.
The FAA, however, excludes transportation workers “engaged in foreign or interstate commerce” from its coverage, meaning that companies seeking to enforce arbitration agreements against such workers face an uphill climb in relying on pro-arbitration precedent that has steadily flowed from the Supreme Court for nearly a decade.
In addressing whether the drivers fell within this exemption, the panel focused on Amazon's argument that transportation workers must cross state lines to be "engaged in interstate commerce" for the purposes of the exemption's application. In doing so, the panel first looked to the ordinary meaning of the terms "engaged" and "commerce" at the time Congress enacted the statute. "The ordinary meaning of those words," the panel explained, "does not suggest that a...
