Court Addresses Unanswered Question As To Whether Stay Order Might Be Deemed “Final” Under “Collateral Order” Doctrine . . . No, Is The Answer

     A Ninth Circuit panel has held that 9 U.S.C. section 16, the section of the Federal Arbitration Act dealing with appeals, bars appeals from a district court’s orders staying judicial proceedings and compelling arbitration of the named plaintiffs’ individual claims.  Johnson v. Consumerinfo.com, Inc., Nos. 11-56520, 11-57182, and 11-57183 (9th Cir. March 20, 2014) (Hurwitz, Kleinfeld, Silverman).

     To reach that conclusion, the Court shot down plaintiff’s arguments that the order being appealed from was a “collateral order”, and therefore really final, and that mandamus was justified as an alternative route to a higher court.  While mandamus relief is not precluded by 9 U.S.C. section 16(b), it is an extraordinary remedy, and wasn’t justified here.