The state Court of Appeals has dismissed The Indianapolis Star's appeal of a local judge's order requiring it to identify a person who made anonymous comments on its website that a former chief executive of Junior Achievement of Central Indiana contends were defamatory.

The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 on Friday that the newspaper couldn't appeal because the local judge's order wasn't a final decision in the dispute.

Junior Achievement CEO Jeffrey Miller and his wife, Cynthia Miller, sued the Star over a 2010 comment regarding the organization's financial affairs, which Miller claims defamed him.

The Star appealed after a local judge ordered it to identify the commenter. The appellate court set standards for requiring the Star to comply, and the local judge again ordered it to identify the commenter.

Miller sued multiple parties, including IBJ, for defamation and sought to add people who made anonymous comments on news organization websites that ran stories about Miller and Junior Achievement.