Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter

Norman Carpenter, an employee of Mohawk Industries (defendant), was terminated after reporting his belief that Mohawk employed undocumented workers, allegedly after Mohawk's counsel in a separate class action pressured him to retract the statement. Carpenter sued Mohawk over his termination, and once the class-action plaintiffs learned of his claims, they sought and obtained an evidentiary hearing where Mohawk testified about the termination. Carpenter then sought an order compelling disclosure of attorney-client privileged information related to that testimony; the district court granted the motion, Mohawk appealed, and the court of appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding the order was not an immediately appealable collateral order.