Dancy v. Amazon.com Services LLC

Order – Page 1
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
DALLAS DIVISION
ERICA DANCY,
Plaintiff,
v.
AMAZON.COM SERVICES, LLC,
Defendant.
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Civil Action No. 3:24-CV-03118-L
ORDER
On December 22, 2025, the Findings, Conclusions and Recommendation of the United
States Magistrate Judge (“Report”) (Doc. 37) was entered, recommending that the court deny
Defendant Amazon.com Services LLC’s Motion to Compel Arbitration (“Motion”) (Doc. 16). The
magistrate judge determined that Plaintiff Erica Dancy (“Plaintiff”) is exempt from the arbitration
requirement. No objections to the Report have been filed, and the 14-day period to object after
service of the Report has passed. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(1)(2); 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C).
Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver determined that, the Federal Arbitration Act
(“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 1, transportation-worker exemption applies to Plaintiff’s position; therefore,
she is exempt from the arbitration requirement. Report at 10. The court agrees.
To make her finding, Magistrate Judge Toliver defined the “class of workers” Plaintiff
belonged to, and whether such class of workers is engaged in foreign or interstate commerce. Id.
at 5-6. First, Magistrate Judge Toliver determined that sortation associates, like Plaintiff, “are a
class of workers that place packages on specific pallets to be loaded onto vehicles for shipping,
but that do not actually load the goods onto the vehicles.” Id. While Plaintiff did not load packages
onto vehicles, she handled incoming and outgoing packages traveling across state lines. Id.
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Order – Page 2
Second, Magistrate Judge Toliver found that sortation associates, like Plaintiff, engage in
foreign or interstate commerce as contemplated by section 1 of the FAA. Id. at 7-10. Magistrate
Judge Toliver noted that “sortation associates have a ‘direct and necessary role’ in the
transportation of goods across borders.” Id. at 8. “By loading packages, some received from
outside of Texas, onto pallets that are then loaded onto trucks for further shipment, including to
destinations outside of Texas, sortation associates are actively engaged in moving goods across
foreign and domestic borders.” Id. at 9. She found that sortation associates play a direct and
necessary role in the interstate transportation of the goods they organize to be shipped and
delivered. See id. at 10. As a result, the magistrate judge recommends that the court deny
Defendant’s Motion.
After considering the pleadings, file, record, Report, and applicable law, the court
determines that the findings and conclusions of the magistrate judge are correct, and accepts them
as those of the court. Accordingly, the court denies Defendant’s Motion.
It is so ordered this 26th day of February, 2026.
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Sam A. Lindsay
United States District Judge
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