Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ December 10, 2015 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A16I0073. KATHERINE R. RINTOUL et al. v. MELVIN TOLBERT et al.

Plaintiffs Katherine Rintoul and William Garner seek interlocutory review of the trial court’s order granting partial summary judgment to the defendants in this action brought under the Georgia Whistle Blower Act, OCGA § 45-1-4, and the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, OCGA § 16-14-1 et seq. Under OCGA § 9-11-56 (h), the grant of partial summary judgment on any issue or as to any party is reviewable by direct appeal. Olympic Dev. Group v. American Druggists’ Ins. Co., 175 Ga. App. 425 (1) (333 SE2d 622) (1985). Thus, the order that the plaintiffs seek to appeal is directly appealable and not subject to the interlocutory appeal requirements. “This Court will grant a timely application for interlocutory review if the order complained of is subject to direct appeal and the applicants have not otherwise filed a notice of appeal.” Spivey v. Hembree, 268 Ga. App. 485, 486, n. 1 (602 SE2d 246) (2004).

Accordingly, this application for interlocutory appeal is hereby GRANTED.

The plaintiffs shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal in the trial court, if one has not already been filed. The trial court clerk is instructed to include a copy of this order in the appellate record.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 12/10/2015 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.