He never crossed state lines, but the ruling keeps his wage claims out of arbitration
A California appeals court ruled that a furniture delivery driver who never left the state is a transportation worker exempt from federal arbitration law.
The June 25, 2026 decision is worth a read for any HR or legal team that leans on arbitration agreements to keep wage disputes out of court.
The driver delivered furniture for Of Service Transportation, which contracts with the furniture chain Living Spaces to move products from its California distribution centers to customers. In August 2019, he signed an independent contractor agreement through his own trucking company. It included an arbitration clause and a waiver barring class, collective, or representative actions, and it was governed by the Federal Arbitration Act - the law that generally forces courts to honor arbitration deals.
He stopped working for Of Service in August 2021 after he complained about working long hours for insufficient pay. He then filed two lawsuits. A class action in September 2021 alleged various Labor Code violations, including failure to pay minimum wage and overtime, failure to authorize and permit meal and rest periods, and unlawful wage deductions. A December 2021 suit sought civil penalties under California's Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, which lets workers sue on behalf of the state for labor violations.
Living Spaces and Of Service moved to push the claims into arbitration and to dismiss...
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