Litigation & Arbitration
Feb. 23, 2024
Planes, trains, and automobiles in the modern arbitration world
The outcome of Bissonnette v. LaPage Bakeries Park St., LLC will affect whether commercial drivers, regardless of the industry or employer, will be able to sue their employers in court or will have to settle their disputes through arbitration. The case will also clarify the scope and meaning of the Federal Arbitration Act's exemption for transportation workers.
Jared W. Slater
Associate, Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP
Phone: (310) 273-6330
Email: jslater@ecjlaw.com
Dating back to its inception in 1925 and enactment in 1926, the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA or the Act) has historically excluded two discrete classes of workers from mandatory arbitration: seamen and railroad employees. Perhaps understanding that it could not account for all then-existing industries or the growth and development of new industries thereafter, Congress included a catch-all “residual clause” through which “any other class of workers engaged in foreign...