Litigation has skyrocketed in recent years over workers’ attempts to avoid mandatory arbitration of their employment disputes, resulting in a legal landscape that will remain muddled absent intervention by the nation’s top court.
Federal district and circuit courts since 2019 have issued more rulings on whether plaintiffs are transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce—and thus are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act—than they did over the preceding 17 years, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis.
The issue, which also has big implications for the gig economy, has divided courts. Some have ruled that the exemption only applies to drivers ...