Muller v. Roy Miller Freight Lines, LLC

246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 748, 34 Cal. App. 5th 1056
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedMay 1, 2019
DocketG055053
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 748 (Muller v. Roy Miller Freight Lines, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Muller v. Roy Miller Freight Lines, LLC, 246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 748, 34 Cal. App. 5th 1056 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

ARONSON, J.

*751*1059Defendant Roy Miller Freight Lines, LLC (RMFL) appeals from an order granting in part and denying in part its motion to compel its former employee, plaintiff William Muller (Muller), to arbitrate his wage and hour claims under the arbitration provision in his employment agreement. The trial court granted RMFL's motion on all but one cause of action, Muller's claim for unpaid wages,1 and stayed the prosecution of that remaining claim pending the completion of the arbitration.

*1060The crux of this appeal is whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies, and more specifically, whether Muller is a transportation worker engaged in interstate commerce under 9 U.S.C. § 1 ( section 1 ) and thus exempt from FAA coverage. If he is exempt from FAA coverage, as the trial court held, Muller does not have to arbitrate his cause of action for unpaid wages because Labor Code section 229 ( section 229 ) authorizes lawsuits for unpaid wages notwithstanding an agreement to arbitrate. If the FAA applies, as RMFL contends, the FAA preempts section 229, and Muller must submit his cause of action for unpaid wages to arbitration, along with his five other causes of action.

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court's order. The court correctly concluded Muller is exempt from FAA coverage under section 1. Even though Muller did not physically transport goods across state lines, his employer is in the transportation industry, and the vast majority of the goods he transported originated outside California. Thus, section 229 requires staying the prosecution of his cause of action for unpaid wages while the other five causes of action proceed to arbitration. The court also correctly concluded the arbitrator, not the court, must determine whether to conduct the arbitration on an individual or classwide basis.

I.

FACTS

RMFL is a licensed motor carrier company that employs truck drivers to transfer freight to and from various destinations from its six California terminals. Over 99 percent of the cargo RMFL transports originates from outside California, but RMFL only transports the cargo within California. The record is silent on whether freight transported by RMFL within California is later transported by other carriers to destinations outside California.

Muller worked as an RMFL truck driver for less than a year. Like other RMFL drivers, all his trips were entirely within California; he never transported freight across state lines. According to RMFL's records, Muller's deliveries typically involved driving from RMFL's Fresno terminal to locations like San Jose or Sacramento, and then back to Fresno.

At RMFL's request, Muller signed a two-page written agreement requiring him to "utilize binding arbitration to resolve all disputes that may arise out of the employment context." The agreement required any claim Muller has *1061against RMFL arising out of his employment to "be submitted to and determined exclusively by binding arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act, in conformity *752with the procedures of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure." The agreement also stated Muller and RMFL both "give up [their] right to trial by jury of any claim" against one another.

Muller's employment with RMFL ended in September 2014. Two years later, he filed a putative class action complaint against RMFL, asserting causes of action for unpaid wages, unpaid rest breaks, incomplete wage statements, missed meal periods, waiting time penalties, and unfair competition.

RMFL moved to compel individual arbitration. In support of its motion, RMFL provided two declarations by its operations manager, who attested that "[o]ver 99 [percent] of all cargo RMFL transports begins its trip and originates from outside the State of California," but that Muller's assigned deliveries were "exclusively within the State of California." (Italics added.) Muller opposed the motion, but he did not dispute his delivery work for RMFL was entirely intrastate.

After hearing oral argument and taking the matter under submission, the trial court issued an order granting in part and denying in part RMFL's motion to compel in the manner noted above. RMFL timely appealed the order.

II.

DISCUSSION

A. General Principles

Because an order denying a petition to compel arbitration is appealable, we may review the portion of the trial court's order denying RMFL's motion to compel arbitration of Muller's cause of action for unpaid wages. ( Code Civ. Proc., § 1294, subd. (a).)

"When a trial court's order [denying a petition to compel arbitration] is based on a question of law, we review the denial de novo. [Citation.] Decisions on issues of fact are reviewed for substantial evidence. [Citation.]" ( Performance Team Freight Systems, Inc. v. Aleman (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 1233, 1239, 194 Cal.Rptr.3d 530 (Performance Team ).)

*1062B. The Applicability of the FAA

1. The FAA and the Section 1 Exemption for "Transportation Workers"

Congress enacted the FAA in 1925 to remedy the general hostility of American courts to the enforcement of arbitration agreements. To effectuate that purpose, the FAA compels judicial enforcement of a wide range of written arbitration agreements, notwithstanding any state substantive or procedural policies to the contrary. ( Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams (2001) 532 U.S. 105, 111, 121 S.Ct. 1302, 149 L.Ed.2d 234 ( Circuit City ); Carbajal v. CWPSC, Inc. (2016) 245 Cal.App.4th 227, 237-238, 199 Cal.Rptr.3d 332.) When the FAA applies, it preempts any state law rule that " 'stand[s] as an obstacle to the accomplishment of the FAA's objectives.' " ( Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
246 Cal. Rptr. 3d 748, 34 Cal. App. 5th 1056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/muller-v-roy-miller-freight-lines-llc-calctapp5d-2019.