NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.
In February, we told you about the Oklahoma Opt-Out statute being ruled unconstitutional by the
Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission. The next move? An appeal to the Oklahoma
Supreme Court filed by Dillard’s, the employer in that case, alleging that the Commission did not
have jurisdiction to strike down the beleaguered statute.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court seems to have tipped its hand, however, on how it will decide the
issue. In another case, decided on April 19, 2016, the Oklahoma high court held that the state’s
Workers’ Compensation Commission had the power to determine whether a provision of the state’s
workers’ compensation law was being unconstitutionally applied to a party in a proceeding before
the Commission.
Many speculate that the Oklahoma Attorney General sees the writing on the wall and anticipates an
unfavorable ruling by the Supreme Court, as evidenced by a Motion for a Stay of the Proceedings
in the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The AG has asked for an additional two months to allow the
Oklahoma Legislature to consider amendments that would address some of the key issues. In other
words, they want time to see if the Legislature can fix the offending portions of the statute that
resulted in the Commission’s decision that the statute was unconstitutional. Of course, pending that
stay, all Opt Out case decisions are on hold at the Commission level pending the outcome of the
Dillard’s appeal.