GREGORY W. CUPPETT v. CORRECT CARE SOLUTIONS, LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: May 12, 2016
• Docket: A16A1529
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 12, 2016

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A16A1529. GREGORY W. CUPPETT v. CORRECT CARE SOLUTIONS, LLC et al.

Gregory W. Cuppett sued Correct Care Solutions, LLC and Sheriff Eric J. Levett. On January 11, 2016, the trial court granted Correct Care Solutions’ motion to dismiss, and Cuppett filed a notice of appeal from this ruling on March 14, 2016. Correct Care Solutions has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. For the following reasons, we agree that the appeal is subject to dismissal. First, “[i]n a case involving multiple parties or multiple claims, a decision adjudicating fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of less than all the parties is not a final judgment. In such circumstances, there must be an express determination under OCGA § 9-11-54 (b) or there must be compliance with the interlocutory appeal requirements of OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). Where neither of these code sections are followed, the appeal is premature and must be dismissed.” Johnson v. Hosp. Corp. of America, 192 Ga. App. 628, 629 (385 SE2d 731) (1989) (punctuation and citation omitted.); see also Underwood v. Dunn, 215 Ga. App. 252 (451 SE2d 129) (1994). Because Cuppett’s claims against Levett remain pending, the dismissal order was interlocutory. Second, Cuppett’s notice of appeal is untimely. To be timely, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the order on appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. See Couch v. United Paperworkers Intl. Union, 224 Ga. App. 721 (482 SE2d 704) (1997). Here, Cuppett’s notice of appeal was filed 63 days after entry of the trial court’s order. Although Cuppett filed a motion for reconsideration from the trial court’s January 11 order, the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not directly appealable, and the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for filing an appeal. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271 (326 SE2d 5) (1985). Accordingly, Correct Care Solutions’ motion to dismiss is hereby GRANTED, and this appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 05/12/2016 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.