Opinion ID: 1375939
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Subdiv 14 Its Second-Generation Text and Meaning

Text: In Huff v. State [15] we examined the 1984 amendment of Subdiv. 14. It provided that the State shall not be liable if a loss ... results from ... [a]ny claim covered by any workers' compensation act... . [16] There, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol car struck and killed Huff as he walked upon a marked crosswalk. He was then in the course of his employment with a private company. We held that under the 1984 version of Subdiv. 14 the State was not immune from tort liability to a nonstate employee injured on the job. [17] Since the Jarvis and Huff -tested versions of § 155(14) did not substantially differ from one another, we could divine no legislative intent to enlarge the earlier version's immunity. The language of the 1984 text fell short of including a non governmental worker within the orbit of State immunity. In sum, our pre-1988 jurisprudence teaches that the Subdiv. 14 immunity applied only to claims by governmental employees and its scope stood confined to that afforded by the exclusivity provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act, 85 O.S.Supp. 1984 § 12. [18]