WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously that airline baggage handlers can’t be compelled to resolve employment disputes through individual private arbitration, bucking a trend of recent decisions making it easier for employers to avoid class-action lawsuits brought by workers.
Writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said baggage handlers expressly are exempted from the Federal Arbitration Act, a 1925 law that allows employers to make it a condition of employment that workers agree to mandatory arbitration of workplace disputes.
