In In Re Frank A. Smith Sales, Inc. d/b/a Frank Smith Toyota, the Thirteenth District Court of Appeals held that mandamus was appropriate when a trial court ordered parties to mediation instead of ordering them to arbitration.

In this employment-related matter, the employee handbook contained a dispute resolution procedure that included “binding arbitration of any legal dispute” between the employee and the employer. After the employee was terminated, she filed suit alleging discrimination, retaliation, and defamation. The employer filed a motion requesting arbitration and while that motion was set and heard, the district court did not rule on it. Instead, the district court ordered the parties to mediation.

The Thirteenth District Court of Appeals held that the district court abused its discretion when it did not rule on the motion to compel arbitration for over a year and ordered the parties to mediation instead of ruling on the motion to compel arbitration. The Court of Appeals ordered to trial court to vacate its order directing the case to mediation and ordered the trial court to issue a ruling on the employer’s motion to compel arbitration.

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