Worker arbitration agreements
Carol Ann McBratnie v. Amazon.com
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Carol Ann McBratnie asks the Supreme Court to review whether a federal district court could order arbitration under federal and Delaware law, and who should decide her challenge to the contract, including whether alleged worker misclassification to avoid the Fair Labor Standards Act makes it illegal.
- What's at stake
- The Court has not resolved who may decide McBratnie’s challenge to the arbitration contract.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
Her petition was sent to a conference; that is not a decision to hear the case.
McBratnie’s petition points to contract terms that anticipate removing illegal clauses and asks who decides whether a clause is illegal.
Question presented
1. Did the US District Court lack jurisdiction to compel arbitration under both the FAA and the Delaware Uniform Arbitration Act (exclusive jurisdiction)? 2. Where, when and by whom should challenges to the legality of a contract be addressed, when arbitration is involved, where ‘ gateway ’ decisions are assigned to the Court, where severing of illegal clauses is contractually anticipated? The sub-question is 'If misclassifying workers to thwart the FLSA, would be an illegal unenforceable contract?
What happens next
The petition was distributed for the Court’s Nov. 13, 2026, conference, where it may consider whether to hear the case. The conference does not guarantee an order date.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Brief added: Petition
More questions
- Which arbitration laws does McBratnie cite?
- Her petition questions whether the district court could order arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act and the Delaware Uniform Arbitration Act.
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.