Supreme Court of Texas

In a negligence and contract suit brought against a state Parks and Wildlife Department and two employees after a fire damaged respondent's storage facility, denial of defendants' plea to the jurisdiction is reversed with respect to claims filed against the department and the employees in their official capacities where: 1) contrary to a ruling below, section 51.014(a)(8) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code vests appellate courts with jurisdiction to consider an interlocutory appeal of a jurisdictional plea brought by employees of a government unit; 2) claims against the employees should have been dismissed; and 3) plaintiff did not obtain the requisite legislative consent to sue for purposes of the contract claim, and the negligence claim also fell outside any waiver of sovereign immunity.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/28/2007
• Published 09/28/2007

Judges

• PER CURIAM.

Court

• Supreme Court of Texas

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Greg Abbott, Attorney General of TX, Barry Ross McBee, Ryan D. Clinton, Rafael Edward Cruz, Edward D. Burbach, Norberto Flores, Office of Atty. Gen., Douglas Fohn, Assistant Atty. Gen., Kent C. Sullivan, First Assistant Atty. Gen., Elsa Giron Nava, Office of Atty. Gen., Austin, TX, for Petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• Robert F. Salter, John R. Lee, Gatesville, TX, for Respondent.