Opinion ID: 2215819
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Trial Court's Denial of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss

Text: Desnick named both the Department and Director Zollar as defendants in this lawsuit. The Department moved to dismiss the action against it for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on grounds of sovereign immunity. It conceded that subject matter jurisdiction existed as to Director Zollar. As we indicated previously, the circuit court subsequently denied the motion to dismiss. Desnick correctly points out that a denial of a motion to dismiss is not a final determination, but is interlocutory. See Chapman v. United Insurance Co. of America, 234 Ill.App.3d 968, 970, 176 Ill.Dec. 738, 602 N.E.2d 45 (1992); Pizzato's Inc. v. City of Berwyn, 168 Ill.App.3d 796, 798, 119 Ill. Dec. 583, 523 N.E.2d 51 (1988) (denial of motion to dismiss on basis of governmental immunity not final and appealable order). Further, defendants did not specify the denial of their motion to dismiss in their notice of appeal. Our rules authorizing appeals from certain interlocutory orders, as was the grant of a preliminary injunction here, do not allow for review of other nonfinal orders entered by the circuit court. Because we rule that the grant of a preliminary injunction was an abuse of discretion, we need not reach defendants' argument that we ought to review the trial court's denial of the Department's motion to dismiss for want of subject matter jurisdiction as attendant and integral to that grant. See Olympic Federal v. Witney Development Co., 113 Ill. App.3d 981, 984-85, 69 Ill.Dec. 684, 447 N.E.2d 1371 (1983); cf. Rosinia v. Gusmano, 90 Ill.App.3d 882, 886-87, 46 Ill.Dec. 299, 414 N.E.2d 21 (1980). The trial court improperly enjoined the defendants, and the cause will be remanded to the circuit court for further disposition.