Plaintiff's Notice of Appeal¶

Bass v. D'Agostino and McSween, No. DC-2025-CV-1817 / No. 15-26-00132-CV · 2026-06-24 · PDF

Text extracted from the PDF; scanned pages were read by OCR. The PDF is the authoritative copy.

CAUSE NO. DC-2025-CV-1817
KEVIN N. BASS,
Plaintiff,
v.
DARRIN D’AGOSTINO, D.O., M.P.H., M.B.A.,
in his official capacity as Provost and
Executive Vice President of Academics of
Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center; and AMANDA McSWEEN, in her
official capacity as Managing Director of
Enrollment Services and University Registrar
of Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center,
Defendants.

§ IN THE DISTRICT COURT
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§ OF LUBBOCK COUNTY, TEXAS
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§ 237th JUDICIAL DISTRICT
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PLAINTIFF’S NOTICE OF APPEAL

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:
Plaintiff Kevin N. Bass files this Notice of Appeal pursuant to Rule 25.1 of the Texas Rules of
Appellate Procedure and respectfully shows the Court as follows:
1. Trial court and cause. This appeal is from a judgment and order of the 237th Judicial
District Court of Lubbock County, Texas, in Cause No. DC-2025-CV-1817, styled Kevin N.
Bass v. Darrin D’Agostino, et al. Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(d)(1).
2. Order appealed from. Plaintiff appeals from the Order on Defendants’ Plea to the Jurisdiction or, in the Alternative, Plea in Abatement, signed by the Honorable Les Hatch on
March 26, 2026, which granted Defendants’ Plea to the Jurisdiction, found that the Court
lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s claims, and dismissed Plaintiff’s claims
without prejudice, and which is the final judgment in this cause. Plaintiff also appeals, to
the extent necessary, from every other order and ruling that is subject to appellate review

upon appeal from that final judgment, including the trial court’s order denying Plaintiff’s
Sworn Motion and Motion for New Trial. Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(d)(2).
3. Desire to appeal. Plaintiff desires to appeal and hereby gives notice of appeal. Tex. R. App.
P. 25.1(d)(3).
4. Court to which appeal is taken. This appeal is taken to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals
of Texas. Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(d)(4); see Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.220(d)(1); Tex. R. App. P.
25.1(d)(9).
5. Party filing notice. The party filing this notice is Plaintiff Kevin N. Bass. Tex. R. App. P.
25.1(d)(5).
6. Matter within the Fifteenth Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction. As required by Tex. R. App.
P. 25.1(d)(9), Plaintiff states that this appeal involves a matter within the exclusive intermediate appellate jurisdiction of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals under Tex. Gov’t Code §
22.220(d)(1): a matter brought against an officer or employee of an agency in the executive branch of the state government, arising out of that officer’s or employee’s official
conduct—namely, Darrin D’Agostino and Amanda McSween, sued in their official capacities as officers of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, an institution of higher
education as defined by Section 61.003 of the Texas Education Code. Because Defendants
are sued solely in their official capacities, the matter is also one brought against an agency
in the executive branch of the state government, including an institution of higher education.
The Attorney General of Texas appears as counsel for Defendants in this matter.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Kevin N. Bass gives notice of his appeal to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals
of Texas from the final judgment described above.

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Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Kevin N. Bass
KEVIN N. BASS
Plaintiff

Email: kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on June 24, 2026, a true and correct copy of the foregoing Notice of Appeal
was served on the following counsel of record for Defendants via the eFileTexas electronic filing
system and via email, in accordance with Tex. R. App. P. 9.5 and 25.1(e):
Scott D. Smith
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General of Texas
General Litigation Division
P.O. Box 12548, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711-2548
Email: scott.smith@oag.texas.gov
Karla Gutierrez
Office of the Attorney General of Texas
Email: karla.gutierrez@oag.texas.gov
Tristan Garza
Office of the Attorney General of Texas
Email: tristan.garza@oag.texas.gov
I further certify that, pursuant to Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(e), a copy of this Notice of Appeal was
delivered to the official court reporter of the 237th Judicial District Court responsible for preparing
the reporter’s record.
/s/ Kevin N. Bass
KEVIN N. BASS

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