By choosing not to review Mejia v. Seaboard Foods, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has left in place a decision that goes against state law and past court rulings. This weakens the workers’ compensation system and exposes employers to broader and uncertain liability.

Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system is based on a simple trade-off. Employers must provide set benefits to injured workers and their families, no matter who was at fault. In return, employers are protected from most lawsuits. This is called the “exclusive remedy” rule. See 85A Okla. Stat. § 5(A). The lower court’s decision upsets this balance by allowing extra lawsuits outside the system, making outcomes less predictable.

Specifically, the lower court allowed adult children who were not dependents to bring their own negligence claims. This creates a new type of claim that is not written in the law and does not fit within the workers’ compensation system. The Court’s refusal to hear the case is a missed chance to correct this problem.

This ruling also conflicts with existing law and prior cases. Oklahoma law says only the personal representative of the deceased can bring a wrongful death claim. See 12 Okla. Stat. § 1053(A). In Whipple v. Phillips & Sons Trucking, the Court allowed an exception only when no legal beneficiaries existed, so there would not be a complete lack of remedy. 2020 OK 75, ¶¶ 8–11, 474 P.3d 339, 342–43. That narrow exception does not apply here, where a remedy already exists.

The result is a major expansion of employer liability. Allowing multiple claims from one workplace accident breaks the single-claim system the law was designed to create. It increases lawsuits, raises costs, and makes it harder for employers to predict their risks.

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