Opinion ID: 158343
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Colleen Whitehead

Text: 4 On May 24, 1994, after receiving the Offer, Whitehead wrote to the retirement plan administrator, Harvey Harris, requesting credit for her employment before her initial termination by OG&E. Whitehead's request was denied on July 1, 1994. She was advised that she had sixty days to submit additional evidence asking for a review of the issue, or to appear before the Retirement Committee, but no such actions followed. Instead, on that same day, Whitehead wrote back to Harris, requesting an extension of time to accept the Offer. On July 6, Whitehead wrote another letter to Harris, this time requesting from the Retirement Committee an exemption from the requirement that she sign a release of all claims as a term of accepting the Offer. Both the July 1 and July 6 requests were denied in a letter dated July 8, in which Whitehead was again informed of her right to appeal her service credit determination. Once again, no such appeal followed. 5 On July 8, Whitehead filed a petition for and received a temporary restraining order enjoining OG&E from withdrawing the Offer on that day, as originally planned. On July 29, the court issued a preliminary injunction which prevented OG&E from withdrawing the Offer from Whitehead and other persons similarly situated, with a break in service due to pregnancy, who have denied years of service under the [Offer] earned prior to a break in service. The preliminary order, though never formally dissolved, remained in effect until August 23, 1994, when defendants' motion to dismiss was granted and Whitehead received twenty days to amend her complaint. During the entire time that the injunctions were in effect, Whitehead never administratively appealed, as she was informed to do, the Retirement Committee's prior refusal to bridge her years of service. Instead, she accepted a promotion within OG&E, and decided not to retire. 6 Unfortunately, on January 23, 1996, while still working for OG&E and while her suit was pending in the district court below, Whitehead was killed in an automobile accident. Whitehead's daughter, Beth Ann Whitehead, filed a motion to substitute herself as a party in interest, but the magistrate and the district court did not rule on the motion because summary judgment and dismissal was recommended and granted in favor of defendants on all of Colleen Whitehead's claims.