High Court Rejects Industry Test for Arbitration Exemption (1)

Workers can fall under an exemption for those in interstate transportation jobs to avoid arbitrating their wage-and-hour lawsuits, even if their employer isn’t in the transportation industry, the US Supreme Court said Friday, resolving a circuit split.

The high court unanimously rejected calls from Flowers Foods Inc. and two subsidiaries to affirm a ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that their baked goods delivery drivers aren’t exempted from mandatory arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act’s transportation worker carveout because the companies are in the bakery, not the transportation industry.

The justices didn’t read an industry ...