Airport Supervisor Not Transportation Worker, Must Arbitrate (1)

A ticketing and gate supervisor for Lufthansa at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport wasn’t a transportation worker under the Federal Arbitration Act and is barred from pursuing her job bias claims in court, the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

The FAA generally requires the enforcement of employment arbitration agreements like the one Heidi Eastus signed when she was hired by ISS Facility Services Inc., the court said. But railroad employees and seamen are expressly exempt from the FAA under what is known as the “transportation worker” exemption, and airline and other employees have also been found to fall under the exemption, ...