COMBS , C.J. 1 On December 20, 2017, Respondents Michael O. Thompson, Ray H. Potts, and Mary Lynn Peacher (collectively, Proponents) filed Initiative Petition No. 416, State Question No. 795 (IP 416) with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. IP 416 would create a new Article XIII-C in the Oklahoma Constitution. IP 416 contains 8 sections, which Proponents assert will levy a new 5% gross production tax on oil and gas production from certain wells, and provide for the deposit of the proceeds...
COMBS , C.J. 1 On December 20, 2017, Respondents Michael O. Thompson, Ray H. Potts, and Mary Lynn Peacher (collectively, Proponents) filed Initiative Petition No. 416, State Question No. 795 (IP 416) with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. IP 416 would create a new Article XIII-C in the Oklahoma Constitution. IP 416 contains 8 sections, which Proponents assert will levy a new 5% gross production tax on oil and gas production from certain wells, and provide for the deposit of the proceeds...
KAUGER , J. : 1 We granted certiorari to address whether the defendants/appellees whose products were used to make an ambulance helicopter had sufficient minimum contacts with the State of Oklahoma in order to establish personal jurisdiction over them after the helicopter crashed in Oklahoma, killing two Oklahoma residents. We hold that they do not. FACTS 2 This cause arises from an ambulance helicopter crash (accident helicopter), on February 22, 2013, shortly after takeoff in...
OPINION WATT , J. : 1 Appellants 1 ("Customers") request this Court to reverse the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's ("Commission") Order Dismissing Cause 2 and to remand the underlying application to the Commission for a full hearing. Appellants are a group of six different individuals who were customers of the Defendant, Southwestern Bell Telephone d/b/a AT&T Oklahoma ("SWBT") during the periods of time relevant to the underlying proceeding. 3 2 Customers appeal from the...
COLBERT , J. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 1 Appellant, Robert Wayne Leritz (Plaintiff) is a Kansas resident whose motorcycle and two other vehicles were garaged in Kansas under an insurance policy issued by Appellee, Farmers Insurance Company (Farmers) in Kansas. Plaintiff was injured in a motorcycle accident in Oklahoma on July 7, 2008, when Defendant, Larry Allen Yates, made a left hand turn and collided with Plaintiff causing serious bodily injuries. Plaintiff brought this action...
COLBERT , J. 1 The issue in this matter is whether summary judgment was properly granted to decedent's employer pursuant to Parret v. UNICCO Service Co. , 2005 OK 54, 127 P.3d 572 . Because material issues of fact remain in dispute, this cause must be remanded to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2 On January 9, 2008, a field engineer for Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative (Employer) met with a contract electrician for...
COLBERT , J. 1 This is a medical malpractice case premised in part on the doctrine of informed consent. The issue presented on certiorari review is whether the doctrine of informed consent requires a physician to obtain the patient's consent before implementing a non-surgical or noninvasive course of treatment. Inherent in the question presented, is whether a physician — in addition to discussing with the patient treatment alternatives that the physician recommends — should discuss...
GURICH , J. 1 Claimant Nancy Bruce worked as a Certified Nurse's Assistant, or "residential life staff aide," for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for twenty-six years where her duties consisted primarily of lifting clients, cleaning them up, feeding them, and daily care. On May 14, 2012, Claimant was injured while lifting one such client. Upon attempting to lift the client, Claimant stated she felt immediate pain in her neck and a shocking and tearing sensation which shot down...
PER CURIAM . Facts & Procedural History 1 Petitioner Cynthia Robinson worked as a Nurse's Aide for Employer Fairview Fellowship Home for Senior Citizens, and was injured on February 6, 2014. 1 Petitioner requested a finding of injury to her neck, left shoulder, and left knee, as well as temporary total disability. Employer admitted that she was an employee on the date of the accident but denied that her injury arose out of and in the course of her employment under 85A O.S. Supp. 2013...
GURICH , J. Facts & Procedural History 1 On February 2, 2014, Petitioner Theresa Maxwell suffered an injury to her knee while working for her Employer, Respondent Sprint PCS. She promptly notified her Employer and timely filed a CC-Form-3 with the Workers' Compensation Commission on March 18, 2014. The Employer admitted Petitioner's injury to her knee was compensable, and she had surgery to repair a tendon in her knee. Petitioner also received temporary total disability benefits from...
COMBS , V.C.J. : PROCEDURAL HISTORY 1 At issue here is the constitutionality of various provisions of three general appropriation bills enacted in 2012 through 2014. On July 29, 2015, the Appellant (Reynolds) filed an amended petition 1 presenting 18 causes of action concerning SB 1975 (2012 Okla. Sess. Laws c. 311), HB 2301 (2013 Okla. Sess. Laws c. 313), and SB 2127 (2014 Okla. Sess. Laws c. 420). Reynolds asserts these three general appropriation bills contain substantive...
OPINION By the Court, CHERRY , J. : NRS 616C.215(2)(a) provides that when an injured employee who receives workers' compensation also recovers damages from the responsible party, the amount of workers' compensation benefits must be reduced by the amount of the damages recovered. We held in Employers Insurance Co. of Nevada v. Chandler, 117 Nev. 421, 23 P.3d 255 (2001), that an insurer may refuse to pay additional funds via reopening a workers' compensation claim until the claimant...
TAYLOR , J. 1 The dispositive question presented to this Court is whether H.B. 2684, ch. 121, 2014 Okla. Sess. Laws 375-80 (codified at 63 O.S.Supp. 2014, 1-729a), violates either of two sections of the Oklahoma Constitution: Article V, Section I (vesting legislative authority in the Oklahoma House and Senate); or Article V, Section 59 (prohibiting special laws). We answer in the negative. A challenge to H.B. 2684 as violative of any other Oklahoma constitutional provision or as...
OPINION WATT , J. : 1 The issue in this case examines whether the salary and retirement benefits for Plaintiff/Appellant Roger L. Price were correctly denied for a particular period of time between his suspension from office as Sheriff of Pawnee County, Oklahoma, pending trial, and his removal from office. We hold the benefits were improperly denied and reverse. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 On September 29, 2010, the grand jury filed an action for removal of Price as Sheriff of Pawnee...
OPINION WATT , J. 1 Oklahoma taxpayers filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a permanent injunction against Defendants, Joy Hofmeister, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Oklahoma State Department of Education; and the Oklahoma State Board of Education, (the "State") 1 to enjoin the payment of tuition to private sectarian schools alleging the "Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Act," 70 O.S. 2011, 13-101.1 and 70 O.S. 2012 Supp.,...
COMBS , V.C.J. : 1 At issue in this cause is whether the estate of a deceased grantor of mortgaged properties conveyed by transfer-on-death deed is liable for the underlying debt, when the grantor's will contained express instructions for the payment of all debts secured by mortgages. We determine that it is. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2 Carol Jean Carlson (Decedent) learned she was terminally ill in 2011, and retained an attorney to assist her in planning the disposition of her...
PER CURIAM . Facts & Procedural History 1 On October 21, 2015, Respondents Shawn Sheehan, Linda Reid, and Melvin Moran (Proponents) filed Initiative Petition No. 403 with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. The petition seeks to amend the Oklahoma Constitution by adding a new Article 13-C. The proposed article creates the Oklahoma Education Improvement Fund, designed to provide for the improvement of public education in Oklahoma through an additional one-cent sales and use tax. 1 Funds...
KAUGER , J .: 1 This cause concerns another appeal in a litany of litigation regarding natural gas wells operated from 1978 to 1998 in Beckham County, Oklahoma. 1 The previous appeal was Krug v. Helmerich & Payne, Inc., 2013 OK 104, 320 P.3d 1012 , wherein this Court affirmed a jury verdict for damages for failure to produce natural gas/drainage in the amount of $3,650,000, but reversed two other jury awards in the amount of $4,055,000.00 and $6,845,000.00. 2 We now address the...
OPINION WATT , J. : 1 The order on appeal which Defendant/Appellant Kris Agrawal seeks to address was entered by District Judge Barbara Swinton, District Court of Oklahoma County, on October 11, 2013, case number CV-2010-1171. The court ordered a stay on the collection of the judgment and required the Defendants to post a supersedeas bond within thirty days. No bond was ever posted. Other orders have been entered in this matter regarding stays, collections and the posting of supersedeas...
OPINION WATT , J. 1 We consider whether the district court erred in affirming the appeal brought by Appellants from the order of the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL) administrative court in this wage claim appeal. Two major issues are considered in this case: (1) whether ODOL erred when it allowed Appellee/wage claimant Christopher Holland's joinder of multiple employers in a single wage claim; and (2) whether the ODOL court erred in prohibiting Appellants/Employers from presenting...
