One issue that continues to be debated in state and federal
courts is whether delivery drivers who deliver takeout food and
other prepackaged goods from restaurants, delicatessens and
convenience stores fall into the class of transportation workers
who are exempt from arbitration under Section 1 of the Federal
Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. § 1.
On July 27, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
joined numerous courts that have addressed this question in
concluding that delivery drivers are not exempt from arbitration.
In Archer v. Grubhub, Inc., the Court held that former
delivery drivers for Grubhub did not fit within the narrowly
defined class of workers engaged in interstate commerce —
e.g. railroad workers, seamen or other workers contemplated by
Congress when enacting Section 1 of the FAA — because they
transported goods that had already completed their interstate
journey by the time the goods arrived at the restaurant,
delicatessen or convenience
