Argument Analysis: Justices Dubious About Enforcing Arbitration Agreements for Transportation Workers
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The argument this morning in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira displayed something that probably hasn’t been seen this century: a Supreme Court bench predominantly dubious about the enforceability of an arbitration agreement.
The issue in the case is a technical one, though it has considerable practical importance: whether the Federal Arbitration Act’s requirement that courts enforce arbitration agreements applies to independent contractors working in transportation industries (think truckers, workers on planes and boats, etc.). The Federal Arbitration Act has an exemption for the “contracts of employment” of those “workers.” Workers who have those “exempt” contracts are much more likely to avoid arbitration (and retain their right to challenge their conditions of employment in a court) than workers in other industries. The specific question before the Supreme Court is whether the exempt “contracts of employment” are limited to employer/employee relationships or whether they also include contracts with independent contractors. This matters because so many transportation workers operate as independent contractors rather than employees.
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