Oklahoma: Divided OK Supreme Court “Opts Out” of Assuming Jurisdiction in Constitutional Challenge Case

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma, in a divided decision, has opted not to assume original jurisdiction in a constitutional challenge to the state’s controversial workers’ compensation opt out law. In its one line order, a majority of the court summarily denied a joint petition filed by two workers who claimed they each sustained work-related injuries after the effective date of the Oklahoma Employee Benefit Act (Okla. Stat. tit. 85A §§ 200–213) and after their respective employers had private benefit plans approved by the state Commission of Insurance. The order does not, however, amount to a decision on the merits. It does mean, however, that the constitutional status of the controversial legislation (a/k/a Senate Bill 1062) is left in limbo while some employers scramble to cobble together benefit plans that meet the approval of Commissioner Doak. So far, the Commissioner has set the bar pretty low. For example, in spite of the fact that the state’s workers’ compensation law generally allows an injured worker one year to file a claim, the Commissioner’s office is routinely approving private benefit plans that bar any recovery by an injured worker if notice is provided the employer within 24 hours of the work-related incident.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Pilkington v. State of Oklahoma, ex rel. Doak, File No. PR–113662 (Apr. 27, 2015) [File No. PR–113662 (Apr. 27, 2015)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 102.01 [102.01]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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