Oral Argument: Flower Foods, Inc. v. Brock | Interstate Worker or Local Laborer?

Flower Foods, Inc. v. Brock | Case No. 24-935 | Docket Link: Here | Argued: 3/25/26

Question Presented: Whether last-mile delivery drivers who never cross state lines qualify as transportation workers "engaged in interstate commerce" under FAA Section 1.

Overview: Flowers Foods required its Colorado bread delivery driver, Angelo Brock, to arbitrate wage disputes. Brock never crossed a state line. The Court must decide whether the 1925 FAA's transportation worker exemption covers last-mile drivers.

Posture: D. Colo. denied arbitration; Tenth Circuit affirmed; four-circuit split prompted cert grant.

Oral Advocates:

• For Petitioner (Flowers Food): Traci L. Lovett of Jones Day
• For Respondent (Brock): Jennifer Bennett of Gupta Wessler

Main Arguments:

Flowers Foods (Petitioner):

• (1) Section 1 covers only workers who directly and actively move goods across state or international borders;
• (2) historical 1925 labor schemes excluded purely local intrastate workers;
• (3) the Tenth Circuit's multi-factor test turns simple arbitration threshold questions into costly mini-trials

Angelo Brock (Respondent):

• (1) century of Supreme Court precedent defined last-mile workers finishing an interstate goods journey as "engaged in interstate commerce";
• (2) seamen and railroad employees in 1925 included last-mile workers who never crossed a border;
• (3) Flowers argued its last-mile drivers qualify as interstate workers under the Motor Carrier Act — and won — directly contradicting its position here

Implications: A Flowers win strips court access from last-mile drivers at FedEx, UPS, Amazon Logistics, and the U.S. Postal Service — forcing employment disputes into private arbitration and shielding company labor practices from judicial review. A Brock win preserves court access for workers serving more than 170 million delivery addresses and anchors a century of interstate commerce precedent in the modern gig economy.

The Fine Print:

• 9 U.S.C. § 1: "nothing herein contained shall apply to contracts of employment of seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce"
• 9 U.S.C. § 2: "A written provision in any...contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle by arbitration a controversy...shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable"

Primary Cases:

• Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon (2022): Transportation workers must play a direct and necessary role in the free flow of goods across borders to qualify for the FAA Section 1 exemption
• Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St., LLC (2024): Transportation workers need not work for a transportation industry company to qualify for Section 1, but must actively engage in transporting goods across borders

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Argument Preview

[00:01:02] Argument Begins

[00:01:08] Flowers Food Opening Statement

[00:03:21] Flowers Food Free for All Questions

[00:27:30] Flowers Food Round Robin Questions

[00:32:08] Brock Opening Statement

[00:34:35] Brock Free for All Questions

[01:05:32] Brock Round Robin Questions

[01:14:23] Flowers Food Rebuttal