Opinion ID: 195068
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Stay of Enforcement.

Text: 34 The remaining question is somewhat narrower: may the district court in a section 921(d) proceeding temporarily enjoin enforcement of a compensation order pending administrative resolution of an employer's petition for modification under section 922? 19 Jones contends that he will be harmed irreparably absent a stay of the section 921(d) enforcement proceeding, because the compensation payments he is compelled to make prior to any section 922 modification order would not be recoverable. See supra note 10. 35 Only two LHWCA provisions explicitly allow stays of effective compensation orders. See 33 U.S.C. Secs. 921(b) (stay pending appeal to BRB), 921(c) (stay pending appeal from BRB to court of appeals), thus underscoring the strong LHWCA policy favoring prompt compensation payments even though the employee's entitlement to disability benefits remains in genuine dispute. Stays pending administrative and judicial review are available only on a showing of irreparable injury. See Henry, 704 F.2d at 865. It is not enough that the employer demonstrate that interim payments would be unrecoverable absent a stay, nor that the employer is experiencing financial difficulty in making payments. Edwards v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation, 932 F.2d 1325, 1329 (9th Cir.1991). Irreparable injury will be found only in extraordinary circumstances. Id. 36 Unlike the minimal time delays required to effect proper service of process, see supra pt. I, a stay of section 921(d) enforcement proceedings while an employer pursues a modification ruling from the DOL (and, perhaps, pending appellate review) threatens a lengthy delay in the previously ordered compensation payments to the employee. Therefore, under the inescapable inference standard established in Porter, 328 U.S. at 398, 66 S.Ct. at 1089, we must conclude that the LHWCA divests the district court of the equitable power to defer its entry of a section 921(d) enforcement order pending the outcome of a section 922 modification proceeding unless the employer first establishes irreparable injury. As we have noted, Jones's answer did not allege facts sufficient to establish irreparable injury, nor does the record suggest a basis for such a showing. Thus, the magistrate judge did not err in failing to act on the request for a temporary stay. 37