Two provisions from the revised Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation law in 2013 have been removed for being unconstitutional. The 2013 revision of the law was spearheaded by Republican lawmakers, out of fear that high insurance costs would be bad for business.
According to a report from Tulsa World, the state Supreme Court said late February that one of the provisions in the workers’ compensation law was unfair. The particular provision prevented workers who sustained cumulative injuries while employed for six months or less from seeking aid through workers’ compensation. The Court ruled that while the other provisions of state law direct employees into the workers’ compensation system instead of letting them file a suit, the particular provision gave some injured employees no recourse.
"The balance is now off-kilter and has become one-sided to the benefit of the employer," wrote Justice Tom Colbert in a statement Mar. 1 in a case based on a worker suffering cumulative injuries just two months short of the six-month requirement needed to make a claim under the 2013 law.
In a Feb. 26 ruling, the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission (OWCC) brought attention to a 2013 provision that allowed employers to “opt out” of workers’ compensation laws if they provided similar benefits after their self-review, which the commission asked to be promptly removed. Over five dozen companies operating in the state chose to opt out.
The OWCC asserted that lawmakers made a mistake by using language in the provision that permitted employers to define the injuries they would cover, rather than follow the state’s guidelines.
"The very party who will have to pay the compensation is authorized to define 'injury,'" the commission ruled, criticizing the “dual system” the loophole allowed. "We can conceive of no rational basis to justify such unequal treatment."
The OWCC granted a stay of its ruling, anticipating that the state will appeal.
