Sectors
Foley & Lardner LLP represented Menzies Aviation in securing a Tenth Circuit reversal of a District of Colorado order that denied motions by Menzies Aviation and Frontier Airlines, Inc. to compel arbitration in a putative wage-and-hour class action.
The appeal arose from Joyner et al. v. Frontier Airlines, Inc. et al., in which current and former Menzies Aviation customer service agents working with Frontier at Denver International Airport asserted claims under Colorado wage laws. Menzies and Frontier moved to compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) based on mandatory arbitration provisions in the employees’ employment contracts. The district court denied the motions, concluding the employees were transportation workers exempt from FAA coverage.
In its September 1, 2026 opinion, the Tenth Circuit reversed, holding that the district court improperly focused on the work performed by the individual plaintiffs rather than the work performed generally by the relevant class of workers. Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon, the Tenth Circuit emphasized that courts must look to “the actual work that the members of the class, as a whole, typically carry out” when determining whether the FAA’s transportation-worker exemption applies.
The court concluded that this error was dispositive, leaving the district court without a properly defined class of workers under the first step of the Saxon framework. The Tenth Circuit remanded the case to the District of Colorado for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
Menzies Aviation is represented by Foley partner Christopher Ward and senior counsel Michael Ryan.
