EDMOND CARMONA, ET AL V. DOMINO'S PIZZA, LLC, No. 21-55009 (9th Cir. 2023)
Annotate this Case
This is a putative class action by three truck drivers against their employer, Domino’s Pizza. The court previously affirmed the district court’s denial of Domino’s motion to compel arbitration, holding that because the drivers were a “class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce,” their claims were exempted from the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) by 9 U.S.C. Section 1.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order denying Domino Pizza’s motion to compel arbitration in a putative class action brought by three Domino truck drivers, alleging violations of California labor law. The panel stated that its prior decision squarely rested upon its reading of Rittmann v. Amazon.com, Inc., 971 F.3d 904 (9th Cir. 2020), which concerned Amazon delivery drivers. The panel found no clear conflict between Rittmann and Saxon and nothing in Saxon that undermined the panel’s prior reasoning that because the plaintiff drivers in this case, like the Amazon package delivery drivers in Rittmann, transport interstate goods for the last leg to their final destinations, they are engaged in interstate commerce under Section 1.
Court Description: Federal Arbitration Act On remand from the United States Supreme Court, the panel affirmed the district court’s order denying Domino Pizza’s motion to compel arbitration in a putative class action brought by three Domino truck drivers, alleging violations of California labor law.
The panel previously affirmed the district court’s denial of Domino’s motion to compel arbitration, holding that because the drivers were a “class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce,” their claims were exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act by 9 U.S.C. § 1. The Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated, and remanded for reconsideration in light of Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon, 142 S. Ct. 1783 (2022).
On remand, the panel stated that its prior decision squarely rested upon its reading of Rittmann v. Amazon.com, Inc., 971 F.3d 904 (9th Cir. 2020), which concerned Amazon * The Honorable Barrington D. Parker, Jr., United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, sitting by designation.
delivery drivers. The panel found no clear conflict between Rittmann and Saxon and nothing in Saxon that undermined the panel’s prior reasoning that because the plaintiff drivers in this case, like the Amazon package delivery drivers in Rittmann, transport interstate goods for the last leg to their final destinations, they are engaged in interstate commerce under § 1.
Rejecting Domino’s attempts to distinguish Rittmann, the panel stressed that the issue was not how the purchasing order was placed, but rather whether the plaintiff drivers operate in a single, unbroken stream of interstate commerce that renders interstate commerce a central part of their job description. A pause in the journey of the goods at a warehouse did not remove the goods from the stream of interstate commerce because the goods were inevitably destined from the outset of the interstate journey for Domino’s franchisees.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on December 23, 2021.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.