The Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to enforce clauses in commercial contracts that require arbitration of disputes. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce are exempt from the Act. For other types of workers, the effect of the Supreme Court ruling was to reaffirm the enforceability of mandatory arbitration provisions in agreements entered into by workers engaged in interstate commerce.
Interstate Commerce Requirement
The Act’s requirement that workers be engaged in interstate commerce is not especially difficult to meet, given the interconnectedness of the economy. When a nurse at a hospital tried to avoid binding arbitration of her wrongful discharge claim by arguing that her employment agreement had no impact on interstate commerce, the argument failed. The court pointed out that the nurse’s employment depended on the constant use of supplies purchased from other states and that the hospital treated many out‑of‑state patients. More often than not, similar connections can be made between most jobs and the flow of interstate commerce, especially for large employers.
Level Playing Field
To say that employers and employees generally may