Opinion ID: 77119
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Commerce Nexus

Text: 44 The plaintiffs next argue that the FAA does not apply because the underlying employment relationship does not affect commerce. This argument also lacks merit. 45 Enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause, the FAA applies only to a contract evidencing a transaction involving [interstate] commerce. 9 U.S.C. § 2; Jenkins v. First Am. Cash Advance of Ga., LLC, 400 F.3d 868, 874 (11th Cir.2005), petition for cert. filed, 74 USLW 3162 (Sept. 12, 2005) (No. 05-347). The Supreme Court has interpreted the term `involving commerce' in the FAA as the functional equivalent of the more familiar term `affecting commerce' — words of art that ordinarily signal the broadest permissible exercise of Congress' Commerce Clause power. Jenkins, 400 F.3d at 874. The Supreme Court also has clarified that Congress' Commerce Clause power may be exercised in individual cases without showing any specific effect upon interstate commerce if in the aggregate the economic activity in question would represent a general practice subject to federal control. Citizens Bank v. Alafabco, Inc., 539 U.S. 52, 56-57, 123 S.Ct. 2037, 2040, 156 L.Ed.2d 46 (2003) (quotation marks, ellipsis, and citation omitted). 46 Because Gulfstream's overall employment practices affect commerce, the Commerce Clause requirement is satisfied. See Weeks, 291 F.3d at 1314 (noting that the Supreme Court in Circuit City . . . held that the FAA was applicable to all contracts of employment except those contracts involving transportation workers). 11 47 Having concluded that the DRP satisfies the FAA's requirements of a written agreement to arbitrate and of a contract involving commerce, we now must determine if it is otherwise enforceable.