Bennett & Belfort partner Michaela May recently spoke to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on the U.S. Supreme Court’s new decision holding that so-called “last mile” drivers could not be compelled to arbitrate their wage claims.
At issue in Flowers was an exemption from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq. applying to transportation workers in “interstate commerce.” The employer argued that the exemption did not apply to drivers who did not themselves cross state lines and did not interact with vehicles that did. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, disagreed.
“Here, the employer took a gamble,” May told Lawyers Weekly. “They looked for a bright-line rule. Unfortunately for them, they lost that gamble.”
“[A]t least sometimes, a person can ‘take part,’ be ‘employ[ed],’ or be ‘involve[d]’ in that continuous journey without leaving a State or touching vehicles that do,” Judge Gorsuch wrote for the Court.
May serves as the President of the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association, a group of attorneys in the Commonwealth who represent employees.
“In our modern economy, we have all of these delivery workers who are bringing items to our doors,” May told Lawyers Weekly. “To allow this legal fiction that your typical Amazon driver is not engaged in interstate commerce is absurd and really enables wide-scale wage theft.”
