John Amabile, Debbie Edney, and Jonathan Crotty wrote in Industry Today about a U.S. Supreme Court case that "will directly impact the cost of litigation for manufacturers and other companies involved in interstate commerce — and could broaden the net of companies caught up in that litigation."

"At issue is the 'residual' exemption to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) that allows 'any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce' to avoid arbitration, notwithstanding their agreement to a contractual arbitration clause," they wrote. "As we wrote in an earlier Industry Today article, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue less than two years ago in Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon, unanimously ruling that Saxon, in loading and unloading cargo onto a plane traveling to a different state, qualified as an interstate transportation worker. That meant the arbitration agreement she signed could not be enforced by her employer under the FAA."

"The case before the Supreme Court now is a follow-up that could involve 'some very difficult line-drawing problems,' as Justice Samuel Alito put it at oral arguments in late February," they continued. "The issue presented, which was wrestled with at oral argument, is whether the FAA’s exemption only applies to individuals working for a company in the transportation industry or whether the key fact is simply their individual job duties. In other words, can truck drivers who work for a food company avoid arbitration, as the drivers in this case argue?"

Click here to read the full article: SCOTUS Ruling Could Impact Massive Amount of Companies

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