But the Supreme Court’s April 12 ruling that they are in the transportation business opens the door for them to take the dispute to court.

That’s because the FAA — in its very first section — exempts from its mandate several types of workers, such as railroad employees and “any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.”

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    2 months ago

    For others with so many questions about the why of this case…

    This ruling allows the independent contractors that deliver goods for a large bakery (Flowers Foods) to be exempt from arbitration requirements under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), and instead take their pay dispute to court.

    • intensely_human
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      1 month ago

      Arbitration is death for the little guy’s negotiating power. It costs about $150 to pursue a claim in small claims court, and about $1500 to pursue a claim in arbitration.

      For most individual earners in a pay dispute, that arbitration fee is insurmountable and essentially means they’re powerless.

      I ran into this problem when I discovered the contract I’d hired a lawyer to draw up for my freelancing business had an arbitration clause. First time I had a client who wouldn’t pay, I was broke and therefore had no recourse.