The Oklahoma Bar Journal May 2023

O klahoma L egal H istory

I N THE EARLY YEARS OF THE 20TH CENTURY, injured workers in the United States exercised their common law rights to seek damages from a jury in a local court. As manufacturing jobs expanded, tort cases overburdened court dockets, and companies rec ognized the high cost of defending lawsuits – even if they prevailed. In addition, injured workers and their families often waited more than a year to receive any replacement wages or medical treatment. 1 The Evolution of Workers’ Compensation in Oklahoma By Bob Burke

under the statutory scheme than in a tort suit with admitted negli gence, the Supreme Court opined, “The compensation provided was intended to be exclusive, and a right of action in the courts there fore was abolished.” 7 Six weeks after the Supreme Court of Oklahoma declared the Grand Bargain constitutional, the U. S. Supreme Court considered the issue in a case involving the New York workers’ compensation law. The high court upheld the legislative replacement of a com mon law tort with an exclusive remedy, no-fault statutory sys tem with scheduled benefits for injured workers. 8 New York Central Railroad held that state legislatures could provide a statutory system as an exclusive remedy for an injured worker’s claim against their employer. However, the justices mandated

State legislatures heard from workers and employers. Business leaders in Oklahoma looked to Wisconsin, which passed a no-fault system in 1911, providing work ers with quick medical care and reasonable compensation for lost wages in exchange for the workers giving up their right to sue their employer for negligence. It was known as the “industrial bargain” or the most common name, the “Grand Bargain.” 2 A dozen states passed similar laws before Oklahoma vigorously debated and enacted its first work ers’ compensation law in 1915. 3 When Gov. Robert L. Williams signed the bill, The Daily Oklahoman reported, “It compels the employer to protect his employees and at the same time relieves the employer of the burden of heavy and some times unreasonable damage suits in state courts.” 4

The new law set up the State Industrial Commission to adju dicate claims of injured workers. However, the legislation did not provide benefits to spouses and children of workers killed on the job. That benefit would not be available for another 35 years. In 1950, voters amended the Oklahoma Constitution to allow the Legislature to provide for scheduled benefits to beneficiaries in work-related death cases. 5 Before the ink was dry on the 1915 workers’ compensation law, there were cries of unconstitu tionality. The Supreme Court of Oklahoma acted quickly and unanimously found the act con stitutional within 16 months of its effective date. 6 It was in the 1917 opinion that the term “exclusive remedy” was used. Recognizing that the badly burned, injured worker would receive far less

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL