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Orders compelling arbitration under the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act (No-Fault Act) are not "final decisions" that trigger a right to immediate appellate review, according to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In Alpine Glass, Inc. v. Illinois Farmers Insurance Co., 531 F.3d 679 (8th Cir. 2008), Alpine made a series of repairs for Illinois Farmers Insurance (IFI) policyholders. After IFI allegedly failed to pay the entire amount due to Alpine for the repairs, Alpine sought a district court order compelling consolidation of all its claims against IFI into one arbitration proceeding under the Minnesota No-Fault Act. See Minn. Stat. §§ 65B.41-65B.71.
The district court granted the order. When IFI appealed the order on its merits, the Court considered sua sponte whether it had jurisdiction to hear the appeal under either 28 U.S.C. § 1291 or the collateral order doctrine.
The Court determined it lacked jurisdiction on appeal because the district court's order was not a "final decision" immediately appealable. The Court acknowledged that a court compelling arbitration of a dispute under the FAA has no more to do after the order than "execute the judgment" following the conclusion of the arbitration proceedings. However, under the No-Fault Act, an arbitrator's decision "is subject to de novo review by the district court." Because arbitration under the No-Fault Act does not end litigation on the merits, IFI's challenge was not immediately appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
Furthermore, the Court held that the district court's order was not appealable under the collateral order doctrine, because the order did not involve any "important issues" that were "effectively unreviewable" on appeal from any final judgment ultimately entered.
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