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.”
In this case yes, because transportation workers have special protections, but it can just as easily apply to strip transportation workers of rights given to bakery workers in different circumstances.
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.
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.
I wasn’t 100% certain this was the correct group to post in. Or, if like, A Boring Dystopia was better? Also, is it poor form to post both here and the lemmy.ml instance? I often wonder if my Internet etiquette could use some polish.
Definitely fits here, IMO. Classifying truck drivers based on the cargo they’re hauling is kind of crazy (unless the company has its own freight division).
Also, is it poor form to post both here and …
If it fits both, then post to both. Most UIs will roll up crossposts now, and usually only one is shown directly in the feed. That said, at least in my opinion, posting to two communities back to back is plenty. Any more, and it starts to feel a bit spammy (regardless of whether they’re rolled up into the crossposts). I’m sure you’ll get different answers based on who you ask, but that’s my take on it.
That distinction may seem like mere semantics, but it’s actually of enormous consequence for delivery workers with wage-and-hour claims. The Federal Arbitration Act has a carve-out for “workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce,” so if the bakery delivery drivers – or, for that matter, delivery drivers for any sort of interstate product – are transportation workers, they can litigate their claims in a class action. But if they are deemed to be in the bakery business, they’re outside of the FAA’s exemption and can be compelled to arbitrate their claims.
Edit: I didn’t notice this was “not the onion” so I can see why people may be downvoting. It definitely does seem like an Oniony headline to me as it’s obvious delivery drivers aren’t “baking.”
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