Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 264.0

Cite as: 558 U. S. 100 (2009) 

103 

Opinion of the Court 

Justice  Sotomayor  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  Court. 
Section 1291 of the Judicial Code confers on federal courts 
of  appeals  jurisdiction  to  review  “ﬁnal  decisions  of  the  dis­
trict courts.”  28 U. S. C. § 1291.  Although “ﬁnal decisions” 
typically  are  ones  that  trigger  the  entry  of  judgment,  they 
also  include  a  small  set  of  prejudgment  orders  that  are 
“collateral to” the merits of an action and “too important” to 
be  denied  immediate  review.  Cohen  v.  Beneﬁcial  Indus­
trial Loan Corp.,  337  U. S.  541,  546  (1949).  In  this  case, 
petitioner Mohawk Industries, Inc., attempted to bring a col­
lateral  order  appeal  after  the  District  Court  ordered  it  to 
disclose certain conﬁdential materials on the ground that Mo­
hawk  had  waived  the  attorney-client  privilege.  The  Court 
of Appeals dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction. 

The  question  before  us  is  whether  disclosure  orders  ad­
verse  to  the  attorney-client  privilege  qualify  for  immediate 
appeal  under  the  collateral  order  doctrine.  Agreeing  with 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  we  hold  that  they  do  not.  Postjudg­
ment  appeals,  together  with  other  review  mechanisms,  suf­
ﬁce to protect the rights of litigants and preserve the vitality 
of the attorney-client privilege. 

I 

In  2007,  respondent  Norman  Carpenter,  a  former  shift 
supervisor  at  a  Mohawk  manufacturing  facility,  ﬁled  suit  in 
the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  Northern  District 
of  Georgia,  alleging  that  Mohawk  had  terminated  him  in 
violation  of  42  U. S. C.  § 1985(2)  and  various  Georgia  laws. 
According  to  Carpenter’s  complaint,  his  termination  came 
after  he  informed  a  member  of  Mohawk’s  human  resources 
department  in  an  e-mail  that  the  company  was  employing 
undocumented  immigrants.  At  the  time,  unbeknownst  to 
Carpenter,  Mohawk  stood  accused  in  a  pending  class-action 
lawsuit  of  conspiring  to  drive  down  the  wages  of  its  legal 
employees by knowingly hiring undocumented workers in vi­
olation  of  federal  and  state  racketeering  laws.  See  Wil­