While the legal issue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Flowers Foods case is whether a local delivery driver is engaged in interstate commerce, even if the worker’s vehicle never crosses state lines, the day-to-day legacy of the dispute is more likely to be an employee relations question: arbitration or litigation? That point was driven home further late last week when lawyers for Angelo Brock, the owner of a final mile delivery company that services the baker of such foods as Tastykakes and Wonder Bread, made their arguments in a brief filed with the court. Flowers Foods filed its brief in December, backed by several amicus briefs including one from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). The legal question remains the same: can a worker who completes all of his or her tasks within the confines of a state be considered an interstate worker because they are at the tail end of an interstate process? “Interstate commerce is not merely the crossing of a state line,” Brock’s attorneys wrote. “It is the trade and traffic between the citizens of the different states of this country.” No date has been set yet for oral arguments in the case. A full docket of can be found here. How the court defines a last-mile worker’s role in an interstate supply chain is likely to have a practical impact in transportation long after the Court hands down its decision. The nine justices’ ruling will help determine whether a delivery driver taking action against an…
