Opinion ID: 1436440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Exclusivity of the Workers' Compensation Remedy

Text: Whitson contends that the exclusivity provision of 85 O.S. 1991 § 12 does not apply here because Spears's conduct was intentional, not negligent. Whitson relies on two Court of Appeals opinions, Pursell v. Pizza Inn Inc., 786 P.2d 716 (Okla. App. 1990), and Thompson v. Madison Machinery Co., 684 P.2d 565 (Okla. App. 1984). Without passing upon the propriety of either of these Court of Appeals opinions, we find that neither is applicable to the facts before us today. In both Pursell and Thompson, the Court of Appeals allowed workers injured as the result of intentional misconduct to sue at common law. Those workers, however, had been paid no workers' compensation benefits. Here, in contract, Whitson sued OFU and Spears after receiving a $21,625.00 Workers' Compensation Court award. Thus, neither Pursell nor Thompson supports Whitson's position. For reasons that we will discuss in the balance of this opinion, we hold that Whitson is not entitled to assert a common law claim for the allegedly intentional bad faith of OFU and Spears.