Flowers Foods, Drivers Face Off in Arbitration Exemption Appeal

Flowers Foods Inc. and two subsidiaries sparred Wednesday at the First Circuit with delivery drivers over whether a federal arbitration law’s exemption for transportation workers applies to their wage-and-hour dispute.

The bakery chain argued that Margarito Canales and Benjamin Bardzik aren’t interstate transportation workers, so the Federal Arbitration Act exemption doesn’t apply and a district judge shouldn’t have allowed them to pursue their misclassification claims in court. The two plaintiffs, who say they spend 50 hours per week delivering goods made in another state, urged the court to uphold the lower court ruling.

Canales and Bardzik deliver baked goods under ...