Arbitration of Worker Contracts: <i>New Prime's</i> Proper Statutory Interpretation of the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act

This article will discuss how, in a future case, if the Court applied the reasoning of its unanimous opinion in New Prime-that the language of the statute should be interpreted consistent with the meaning it had to the Congress that adopted it-no worker would be covered by the FAA. Part I will consider the scope of the Commerce Clause, and the expansion in the Court's understanding of Congress' power under the Clause that occurred post-1925. In Part II, the article will deal with the purpose of the FAA as understood at the time of its adoption, as well as the meaning and purpose of the exemption found in Section 1. In Part III, the Circuit City case will be examined with respect to how the Supreme Court judicially amended the statute by finding that ordinary workers were covered by the FAA.

Part IV will consider why Circuit City should be overruled. Part V concludes the article.