Dallas Court of Appeals, No. 05-13-00477-CV (July 26, 2013)
Justices FitzGerald (Opinion), Lang, and Myers
The Court of Appeals granted mandamus relief from a trial court’s order that allowed an employer who believed former employees had breached their employment agreements to take pre-suit depositions of those employees. The trial court ordered the depositions based on its finding that the likely benefit of the depositions would outweigh the burden or expense of the procedure. The Court of Appeals concluded this finding was an abuse of discretion because no evidence was offered or admitted at the hearing on the employer’s petition for the depositions. The Court of Appeals also determined the former employees had no adequate remedy on appeal, citing the Waco Court of Appeals’ opinion in Thomas v. Fitzgerald for the proposition that an order compelling a pre-suit deposition is not appealable if the deponent is a person against whom a suit is contemplated. The employer did not claim it was not contemplating suit against the former employees.
