Opinion
No. 10-10063.
December 13, 2010.
William J. Sheppard, Bryan E. Demaggio, Matthew R. Kachergus, D. Gray Thomas, Sheppard, White, Thomas Kachergus, PA, Jacksonville, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Douglas Bernard Lang, James A. Bledsoe, Jr., Bledsoe, Jacobson, Schmidt Wright, PA, Jacksonville, FL, for Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. D.C. Docket No. 3:09-cv-00406-TJCMCR.
Atlantic Trucking Company, Inc. and Ted Sparks, the manager of their terminal in Jacksonville, Florida appeal from the denial of their Motion to Dismiss or, in the alternative, Compel Arbitration of Charlton Bell's employment discrimination claim. Appellants contend that Bell's employment agreement mandates arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"). However, 9 U.S.C. § 1 provides that the mandatory arbitration provisions of the FAA do not apply to "contracts of employment of seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce." The district court found that Bell was an employee as contemplated by section 1 of the FAA, and thus the arbitration agreement in his contract was not enforceable. Based on the facts in this record, we cannot say the district court erred in concluding that Bell was an employee of Atlantic Trucking and thus not subject to compulsory arbitration under the FAA.