9
In sum, we decline to unwind a nearly century-old statutory scheme without a clear
congressional directive to do so. The mere fact that Polk’s claim arises under Title VII does
not disqualify that claim from being a minor dispute within the RLA’s ambit.
2.
Polk protests that arbitration would render her Title VII rights “ineffective.”
Appellant Opening Br. at 4. But arbitration is no death knell. In extending an arbitral forum,
the RLA serves not to deny Polk due process but to afford it.
Polk’s skepticism of arbitration is, in any event, out of step with the views of
Congress and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has discussed the benefits of
arbitration in recent years within the context of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C.
§ 1 et seq. Congress’s view, the Court explained, is that arbitration can offer “quicker,
more informal, and often cheaper resolutions for everyone involved.” Epic Sys. Corp. v.
Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612, 1621 (2018). In a string of recent cases, the Supreme Court has
rejected state- and court-made exceptions to the FAA’s strong presumption of arbitrability.
Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, 142 S. Ct. 1906, 1924 (2022); Epic, 138 S. Ct. at
1619; Am. Exp. Co. v. Italian Colors Rest., 570 U.S. 228, 239 (2013); AT&T Mobility LLC
v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333, 352 (2011). Under the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, there
is no reason to fear that arbitration will not give “statutory antidiscrimination rights the full
protection they are due.” Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett, 556 U.S. 247, 265 n.5 (2009).
Polk appeals to Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36 (1974), but the
Supreme Court has substantially narrowed and explicitly repudiated that decision. See
Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., 500 U.S. 20, 35 (1991); Penn Plaza, 556 U.S.