Cite as: 531 U. S. 79 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
an appeal may be taken.2 See Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Mackey, 351 U. S. 427, 431 (1956) (explaining that had the District Court dismissed all the claims in an action, its decision would be final and appealable); Catlin, supra, at 236 (noting that had petitioners' motion to dismiss been granted and a judgment of dismissal entered, "clearly there would have been an end of the litigation and appeal would lie . . .").
Petitioners contend that the phrase "final decision" does not include an order compelling arbitration and dismissing the other claims in the action, when that order occurs in an "embedded" proceeding, such as this one. Brief for Petitioners 26. "Embedded" proceedings are simply those actions involving both a request for arbitration and other claims for relief. "Independent" proceedings, by contrast, are actions in which a request to order arbitration is the sole issue before the court. Those Courts of Appeals attaching significance to this distinction hold that an order compelling arbitration in an "independent" proceeding is final within the meaning of § 16(a)(3), but that such an order in an "embedded" proceeding is not, even if the district court dismisses the remaining claims.3 Petitioners contend that the distinc-2 Had the District Court entered a stay instead of a dismissal in this case, that order would not be appealable. 9 U. S. C. § 16(b)(1). The question whether the District Court should have taken that course is not before us, and we do not address it.
3 The majority of Courts of Appeals have so opined, contrary to the instant decision of the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. See, e. g., Seacoast Motors of Salisbury, Inc. v. Chrysler Corp., 143 F. 3d 626, 628-629 (CA1 1998); Altman Nursing, Inc. v. Clay Capital Corp., 84 F. 3d 769, 771 (CA5 1996); Napleton v. General Motors Corp., 138 F. 3d 1209, 1212 (CA7 1998); Gammaro v. Thorp Consumer Discount Co., 15 F. 3d 93, 95 (CA8 1994); McCarthy v. Providential Corp., 122 F. 3d 1242, 1244 (CA9 1997). But see Arnold v. Arnold Corp.—Printed Communications for Business, 920 F. 2d 1269, 1276 (CA6 1990) (order compelling arbitration in an "embedded" proceeding treated as a final judgment when the District Court dismissed the action in deference to arbitration and had nothing left to do but execute the judgment); Armijo v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America, 72 F. 3d 793, 797 (CA10 1995) (same).
87
Page: Index Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007