TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-96-00347-CV
Fort Worth Independent School District, Appellant
v.
Jane Thomson and Charles Rand, Appellees
FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 201ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT
NO. 95-00602, HONORABLE MARGARET COOPER, JUDGE PRESIDING
PER CURIAM
Jane Thomson and Charles Rand sued the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) under the "Whistleblower Act." Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 554.001-.010 (West 1994 & Supp. 1996). FWISD unsuccessfully moved to transfer venue. FWISD timely perfected appeal from that trial-court order.
An order on a motion to transfer venue is usually not an appealable interlocutory order. Tex. R. Civ. P. 87(6); "21" Int'l Holdings, Inc. v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 856 S.W.2d 479, 484 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 1993, no writ). In response to a letter from the Clerk of this Court questioning our jurisdiction, appellant responded with an argument for continuing the appeal under a recently enacted venue provision dealing with joinder and intervention. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 15.03 (West Supp. 1996) ("section 15.03"). Appellees responded with a motion to dismiss the appeal. We will grant appellees' motion to dismiss.
Section 15.003 was enacted as part of a series of revisions to Texas venue law. See generally A. Erin Dwyer, Donald Colleluori, and Thomas A. Graves, Texas Civil Procedure, 49 SMU L. Rev. 1371, 1375 (1996). Section 15.003, "Multiple Plaintiffs and Intervening Plaintiffs," concerns joinder or intervention by more than one plaintiff in a cause and the necessity of each plaintiff independently establishing proper venue. Section 15.003(a), (b). This section allows for interlocutory appeals of an order allowing or denying intervention or joinder of a plaintiff. Section 15.003(c).
Section 15.003 does not apply to this cause. FWISD's complaint is that appellees' first amended original petition added allegations of retaliatory action that occurred after their original petition was filed. During the interval between the two filings, FWISD claims changes occurred in the "Whistleblower Act" which make venue improper in Travis County. This complaint has nothing to do with the joinder or intervention of any plaintiff. Section 15.003 quite specifically deals only with multiple plaintiffs. Further, FWISD complains of the denial of its motion to transfer venue. Section 15.003 specifically provides for interlocutory appeals from an order granting or denying intervention or joinder, not from an order granting or denying a motion to transfer venue. FWISD points to no other provision that would allow an interlocutory appeal in this cause.
Accordingly, we grant appellees' motion and dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. North East Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Aldridge, 400 S.W.2d 893, 895 (Tex. 1966).
Before Chief Justice Carroll, Justices Aboussie and Kidd
Appeal Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction
Filed: September 11, 1996
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