Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/oklahoma/supreme-court/2018/115635.html
Timestamp: 2018-05-22 08:14:46
Document Index: 536123927

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', 'Art. 5', '§ 59', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', 'Art. 5', '§ 59', '§ 5', '§ 314', '§ 302', 'art. 5', '§ 59', '§ 5', 'Art. 5', '§ 46', '§ 46']

Strickland v. Stephens Production Co. :: 2018 :: Oklahoma Supreme Court Decisions :: Oklahoma Case Law :: Oklahoma Law :: US Law :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Oklahoma Case Law › Oklahoma Supreme Court Decisions › 2018 › Strickland v. Stephens Production Co.
An employee of a trucking company was killed while on the job at an oil-well site. The employee's surviving daughter brought a wrongful death action against the owner and operator of the well site, Stephens Production Company. Stephens Production Company moved to dismiss the case pursuant to 85A O.S. Supp. 2013 sec. 5(A), which provides that "any operator or owner of an oil or gas well . . . shall be deemed to be an intermediate or principal employer" for purposes of extending immunity from civil liability. The district court denied the motion to dismiss, finding that section 5(A) of Title 85A was an unconstitutional special law. The trial court certified the order for immediate interlocutory review, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court granted certiorari review. The Supreme Court concluded that the last sentence of section 5(A) of Title 85A was an impermissible and unconstitutional special law under Art. 5, section 59 of the Oklahoma Constitution. The last sentence of section 5(A) was severed from the remainder of that provision.
2018 OK 6
ERICK FLOWBACK SERVICES, LLC; DMR ON-SITE SERVICES LLC; and DUSTIN ROLLINS, Defendants.
CERTIORARI TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA COUNTY,
STATE OF OKLAHOMA, HONORABLE THOMAS E. PRINCE
¶0 An employee of a trucking company was killed while on the job at an oil-well site. The employee's surviving daughter brought a wrongful death action in the District Court of Oklahoma County against the owner and operator of the well site, Stephens Production Company. Stephens Production Company moved to dismiss the case pursuant to 85A O.S. Supp. 2013 § 5(A), which provides that "any operator or owner of an oil or gas well . . . shall be deemed to be an intermediate or principal employer" for purposes of extending immunity from civil liability. The district court denied the motion to dismiss, finding that § 5(A) of Title 85A was an unconstitutional special law. The court certified the order for immediate interlocutory review, and we granted certiorari review. We conclude that the last sentence of § 5(A) of Title 85A is an impermissible and unconstitutional special law under Art. 5, § 59 of the Oklahoma Constitution. The last sentence of § 5(A) shall be severed from the remainder of that provision.
T. Luke Abel, Abel Law Firm, Oklahoma City, OK, for Plaintiff/Respondent
¶1 On October 6, 2014, David Chambers, who was an employee of RDT Trucking, Inc., was dispatched to an oil-well site in Crescent, Oklahoma, to pick up waste water. Stephens Production Company and Stephens Production Company Continental Properties, LLC (SPC) were the owners and operators of the well. Upon arrival at the well, Mr. Chambers worked on or around a device known as a "heater treater." During this work, Mr. Chambers suffered severe burns, which eventually led to his death.1 Glory Strickland, Mr. Chambers' surviving daughter and Special Administrator of the Estate, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against SPC and others in the District Court of Oklahoma County,2 alleging negligence for failure to properly operate, maintain, and inspect the well, and failure to properly warn of dangerous conditions at the well site.3
¶14 In determining whether a "non-offending statutory provision[] may survive as valid after the clause[] rejected as invalid [is] separated from the whole,"19 we ask whether the voided provision was "'so inseparably connected with and so dependent upon'" the remaining portions of the statute such that "'the surviving provisions would not have been otherwise enacted.'"20 Section 5(A) of the OAWCA provides the exclusive remedy doctrine, which is "at the heart of the essential Grand Bargain between employers and employees . . . [and] is workers' compensation." Vasquez v. Dillard's, Inc., 2016 OK 89, 381 P.3d 768 (Gurich, J., concurring specially ¶ 26). Thus, we must conclude that the Legislature undoubtedly would have enacted the remaining portion of § 5(A) without the invalid, last sentence. Therefore, we sever only the last sentence of § 5(A) and leave the remainder of § 5(A) intact.21
¶15 This case is no different from Goodyear Tire,22 a case decided by this Court more than fifteen years ago, wherein the Legislature singled out one specific industry for special treatment under the workers' compensation system. This Court disapproved of such special treatment in that case because no valid reason existed for the distinction. We adhere to the teachings of Goodyear Tire today and find no valid reason exists for the special treatment of the oil and gas industry as displayed by the last sentence of § 5(A). The last sentence of § 5(A) of Title 85A is an impermissible and unconstitutional special law under Art. 5, § 59 of the Oklahoma Constitution, and it shall be severed from the remainder of that provision. On remand, SPC is not precluded from rearguing exclusive remedy protections pending further discovery and submission of additional facts on the issue of whether SPC was actually Mr. Chambers' principal employer at the time of his injuries.
¶16 Combs, C.J., Gurich, V.C.J., Kauger, Winchester, Edmondson, Colbert,
¶17 Wyrick, J., recused.
1 The record is unclear as to how exactly Mr. Chambers was injured, but both parties agree that the fatal injuries were sustained at the well site in the course of his employment.
2 Strickland also sued Erick Flowback Services, LLC, DMR On-Site Services, LLC, and Dustin Rollins. These Defendants are not parties to this appeal.
3 Strickland sought actual damages in excess of $300,000 and punitive damages for the gross, wanton, and willful acts of SPC and other defendants.
4 SPC replied on November 14, 2016, contending the statute was constitutional and arguing it was entitled to dismissal of the claims against it as the owner and operator of the well.
5 Record on Appeal at 38.
6 The Attorney General gave notice of his intent to exercise his right to be heard on the constitutional issues, and his brief was filed on May 12, 2017. Respondent Strickland filed a response to the Attorney General's brief on May 19, 2017.
7 85A O.S. Supp. 2013 § 5(A) (emphasis added).
8 In Smalygo v. Green, 2008 OK 34, ¶ 10, 184 P.3d 554, 558, we said:
Since 1923, section 11 of Oklahoma's Workers' Compensation Act has allowed an injured employee of an uninsured independent contractor to pursue a workers' compensation claim against the general contractor, or an intermediate contractor, without regard to the liability of the independent contractor. The injured worker [could] proceed up the chain of independent contractors to reach an intermediate or a general contractor which maintain[ed] compensation coverage through insurance or through one of the other means enumerated in section 61 of the Act for securing compensation.
9 Smalygo, 2008 OK 34, ¶ 10, 184 P.3d at 558; Bradley v. Clark, 1990 OK 73, ¶ 15, 804 P.2d 425, 430.
10 Hammock v. United States, 2003 OK 77, n.6, 78 P.3d 93, 97 n.6 (citing Bradley, 1990 OK 73, 804 P.2d 425). In Bradley, this Court found that the injured employee's work, the "killing" of a well, was not necessary and integral to the hirer's work, the hirer being the operator of the oil and gas well. Accordingly, the hirer was not a principal employer, and thus, was not immune from civil liability.
11 See 85 O.S. 2011 § 314(1), which provides:
1. In order for another employer on the same job as the injured or deceased worker to qualify as an intermediate or principal employer, the work performed by the immediate employer must be directly associated with the day to day activity carried on by such other employer's trade, industry, or business, or it must be the type of work that would customarily be done in such other employer's trade, industry, or business.
12 Section 302(H) of the 2011 Code provides:
H. For the purpose of extending the immunity of this section, any operator or owner of an oil or gas well or other operation for exploring for, drilling for, or producing oil or gas shall be deemed to be an intermediate or principal employer for services performed at a drill site or location with respect to injured or deceased workers whose immediate employer was hired by such operator or owner at the time of such injury.
85 O.S. 2011 § 302(H) (emphasis added). The 2011 version has been challenged as unconstitutional and is pending before this Court. See Bendetti v. Cimarex Energy Co., Case No. 115,136 (Cert. Granted Apr. 10, 2017).
13 We express no view with regard to the use of the terms "prime contractor" or "primary contractor liability" in the OAWCA.
14 TXO Prod. Corp. v. Okla. Corp. Comm'n, 1992 OK 39, ¶ 10, 829 P.2d 964, 970.
15 Maxwell v. Sprint PCS, 2016 OK 41, ¶ 6, 369 P.3d 1079, 1085 (quoting Special Indem. Fund v. Figgins, 1992 OK 59, ¶ 8, 831 P.2d 1379, 1382).
16 Okla. Const. art. 5, § 59. Strickland initially challenged § 5(A) under Okla. Const. Art. 5, § 46--an additional constitutional prohibition on special laws. The trial court made its ruling on § 46 grounds. Both provisions were discussed by the parties on appeal. This Court maintains discretion to uphold trial court rulings on any grounds. See Nichols v. Nichols, 2009 OK 43, ¶ 10, 222 P.3d 1049, 1054.
17 Again, because the term principal employer is undefined in the OAWCA, we must accord the identical construction placed upon that term by preexisting law, meaning that an employer who presents factual proof under the necessary and integral test of a statutory employment relationship is entitled to principal employer status and immune from suit in the district court.
18 Appellant's Brief in Chief at 16.
19 Fent v. Contingency Review Bd., 2007 OK 27, ¶ 18, 163 P.3d 512, 523.
20 Naifeh v. Okla. Tax Comm'n, 2017 OK 63, ¶ 50, 400 P.3d 759, 775 (quoting Fent, 2007 OK 27, ¶ 18, 163 P.3d at 523). Although the OAWCA contains a severability clause, "[t]he severability of a statutory enactment is not contingent on the presence of an express severability clause within the particular enactment's text." Fent, 2007 OK 27, ¶ 18, 163 P.3d at 523.
21 Section 5(A) of Title 85A will now read:
The rights and remedies granted to an employee subject to the provisions of the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act shall be exclusive of all other rights and remedies of the employee, his legal representative, dependents, next of kin, or anyone else claiming rights to recovery on behalf of the employee against the employer, or any principal, officer, director, employee, stockholder, partner, or prime contractor of the employer on account of injury, illness, or death. Negligent acts of a co-employee may not be imputed to the employer. No role, capacity, or persona of any employer, principal, officer, director, employee, or stockholder other than that existing in the role of employer of the employee shall be relevant for consideration for purposes of this act, and the remedies and rights provided by this act shall be exclusive regardless of the multiple roles, capacities, or personas the employer may be deemed to have.
22 2000 OK 41, 5 P.3d 594.