He bet his port job put him beyond the arbitration clause. It didn't work out
A Florida appeals court has ruled that a port security officer must take his discrimination claim to arbitration, not to open court.
The decision, issued July 8, 2026, by the First District Court of Appeal, is a practical reminder for employers about how far a carefully drafted arbitration clause can reach - and how hard it can be for a worker to step outside one.
The case began when a port security officer brought an employment discrimination claim against his employer, Weiser Security Services, Inc. Weiser did not want that dispute in a courtroom. It pointed to the arbitration provision in the parties' employment agreement and asked the trial court to compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), the federal statute that makes most arbitration agreements enforceable.
The employee pushed back with a narrow but well-known argument. The FAA carves out one group of workers under section 1 of the statute: transportation workers "engaged in foreign or interstate commerce." Those workers cannot be forced into arbitration. He argued that his job at the port put him in that group, and he filed a declaration describing what he did.
The trial court read the declaration and disagreed. It concluded that the declaration "did not show that his work as a port security officer established a sufficiently direct, necessary, and active role in transporting goods in interstate commerce." He appealed....
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