Anthony C. Kenney v. Swift Transportation

159 F. App'x 747

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: December 29, 2005
• Docket: 05-1520
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Anthony Kenney appeals after the magistrate judge 1 denied his motion to reopen his employment-discrimination case that had been administratively terminated pending the outcome of binding arbitration. Having carefully reviewed the record and the parties’ submissions on appeal, we cannot discern whether Kenney is appealing the magistrate judge’s order or the underlying arbitration award. If he seeks to appeal the order, this court lacks jurisdiction because the parties did not consent to the magistrate judge’s authority to enter a final, appealable order, and absent that consent, Kenney was required to seek review in the district court before appealing to this court. See LeGear v. Thalacker, 46 F.3d 36, 36-37 (8th Cir.1995) (per curiam). If he seeks to appeal the arbitration award, this court lacks jurisdiction because neither the district court nor the magistrate judge entered a final order, an appealable interlocutory order, or any decision at all regarding the merits of the arbitration award. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction from all final decisions of district courts).

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. We deny appellee’s pending motion.

1 . The Honorable John F. Forster, Jr., United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.