Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court in Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon unanimously held that a ramp supervisor who frequently handled cargo for an interstate airline company was exempt from coverage under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) because she belonged to a “class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” 9 U.S.C. § 1.

In reaching this conclusion, the Court’s analysis was twofold. First, it defined the “class of workers” by looking at “the actual work that the members of the class, as a whole, typically carr[ied] out.” In this regard, the Court defined the class of workers as those individuals who physically loaded and unloaded cargo on and off airplanes on a frequent basis.

Next, the Court examined whether this class of workers was “engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” The Court held that it was, as airline employees who physically loaded and unloaded cargo on and off planes traveling in interstate commerce were “intimately involved” with cross-border commerce.

Although both sides argued for a broader or narrower application of the exemption, the Court remained unpersuaded. The ramp supervisor argued that the “class of workers” should be broadly defined to include all employees who carried out the “customary work” of the airline, rather than cargo loaders more specifically. The Court rejected this industrywide or companywide approach, which would exempt “virtually all employees of major transportation providers” – from cargo loaders to...

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