Overview
- The Supreme Court ruled on May 28, 2026, in Flowers Foods v. Brock that some ‘‘last‑mile’’ drivers who deliver goods entirely within a state can fall under the FAA’s Section 1 transportation‑worker exemption and thus avoid mandatory FAA arbitration.
- Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for a unanimous Court rejecting Flowers Foods’ proposed bright‑line rule that a worker must personally cross state lines or touch interstate vehicles to qualify for the exemption.
- The Court limited its decision to the narrow question presented and declined to decide several open issues such as whether a contract between businesses counts as a ‘‘contract of employment,’' whether a distributor’s taking title ends the interstate journey, and precisely when an intrastate leg is part of a continuous interstate shipment.
- Practically, the ruling lets Angelo Brock’s misclassification and wage claims proceed in court and is expected to spur more litigation from delivery drivers, increase discovery and class‑action risk for employers, and lead companies to revise arbitration clauses to rely on state arbitration law as a fallback.
- The decision continues a recent trend expanding Section 1’s reach after New Prime (2019), Saxon (2022), and Bissonnette (2024), and signals that lower courts will face fact‑heavy fights over who counts as a transportation worker.