Oklahoma's highest court is preparing to decide one of the biggest workers’ compensation cases in years.
The state Supreme Court could invalidate or uphold part of an Oklahoma law that lets dozens of companies write their own workers' comp policies. The legal dispute started when clothing retailer Dillard’s denied an employee’s comp claim, The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt reports:
Jonnie Vasquez sued the company after it denied her workers’ comp claim. Vasquez claimed she injured her neck while handling merchandise. Dillard’s plan did not cover her claim, arguing it was a pre-existing injury. The commission noted in its ruling that under the traditional workers’ comp system, pre-existing injuries are covered if aggravated during work. “Although at first blush it appears that the Opt-Out Act requires that injured workers under an authorized benefit plan must be afforded benefits equal to or better to those under the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act, this is decidedly not so,” the ruling stated. “The appearance of equal treatment under the dual system is like a water mirage on the highway that disappears upon closer inspection.”
Earlier this year, Dillard’s asked the Supreme Court to hold oral arguments, and let the parties argue their case directly to the justices. It’s rare to have this kind of hearing.
Unlike cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, Oklahoma’s appellate process usually doesn’t involve attorneys talking directly to and taking questions from the full panel of justices. Instead, the nine justices pore over bound documents containing case files and briefs, and then issue a written opinion. In a 2009 law review article, University of Oklahoma professors could find only about one dozen cases in the previous decade where the state court heard oral arguments. “It is totally up to the Supreme Court to grant oral arguments,” said Bob Burke, one of the attorneys representing Vasquez during the appellate process. “It is rare for the court to do so. Only a few times a year does the court hear oral arguments on cases of great legal significance.”
Parts of the new system have been ruled unconstitutional. Denwalt says legislation during the most recent session could’ve made several changes to workers’ compensation in Oklahoma, but the bill never made it to the governor’s desk.
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