US Supreme Court rules Southwest cannot force wage suit into arbitration

Southwest cannot force a baggage handler's class action lawsuit over overtime pay into private arbitration, the US Supreme Court ruled on Monday in a decision with costly potential implications for companies including Amazon.com and Uber Technologies that employ many transportation workers. The justices ruled 8-0 in a decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas that baggage handlers are engaged in interstate commerce because they routinely load cargo onto planes that cross state lines, exempting them from a federal law that requires the enforcement of agreements to bring legal claims in arbitration rather than court. Latrice Saxon, a Chicago-based employee who worked as a "ramp supervisor," accused Southwest in a 2019 lawsuit filed in Illinois of failing to pay workers overtime. Ramp supervisors train and supervise baggage handlers and sometimes load cargo onto planes. A Chicago-based federal judge sent the case to arbitration, saying workers are not engaged in interstate commerce merely because they handle cargo. The Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling, prompting Southwest to appeal to the Supreme Court. Southwest said Monday's ruling would have a minimal impact on the airline because most of its employees who handle baggage are unionized and subject to a separate process for bringing wage claims.<br/>