The FAA Keeps On Flying: The Supreme Court and 'Southwest'
In this second article in a two-part series, the author discusses the recent U.S. Supreme Court case where the court held that airline cargo loaders and ramp supervisors are deemed "transportation workers" and therefore exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act's arbitration requirement.
July 27, 2022 at 10:00 AM
8 minute read
In Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon, 596 U.S. ___ (No. 21-309) (June 6, 2022) (Southwest), a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court declared that airline cargo handlers are workers in interstate commerce, and thus exempt from the enforceability of arbitration agreements, per an exception set forth in the Federal Arbitration Act. See 9 U.S.C. §1. In this, the second installment of our two-part article, we shall exposit the wisdom of that brand new landmark, and later explore its ramifications, if any, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's decision in Bissonnette (see The FAA Keeps On Trucking: The Second Circuit and 'Bissonnette,' New York Law Journal (July 13, 2022)) as well as future controversies.
Southwest opens with a masterful understatement; the airline "moves a lot of cargo" in interstate and foreign commerce, over 250 million pounds of it, according to government statistics. As a "ramp supervisor," the respondent personally loaded and unloaded some of that air freight.
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