Cole v. Silverado Foods, Inc.

Summary

The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the 1997 amendment to 85 O.S. § 43(B), which shortened the period for requesting adjudication of unresolved workers' compensation benefits from five years to three years, could not be applied retroactively to a claim filed before the amendment took effect. The court concluded that the amendment affected substantive rights and liabilities protected under Article 5, § 54 of the Oklahoma Constitution. The court overruled Cunningham v. Oklahoma Department of Corrections, vacated the intermediate appellate and three-judge panel decisions, and sustained the trial judge's award.

Holdings

1. The 1997 amendment shortening the period for requesting adjudication of unresolved workers' compensation benefits does not apply retroactively to a claim filed before the amendment became effective.
2. Section 43(B) is not merely a procedural statute of limitations; its time restriction operates as a substantive, right-destroying and liability-defeating defense against unadjudicated workers' compensation benefits.
3. The timely filing of a workers' compensation claim constitutes a proceeding begun within the meaning of Article 5, § 54 of the Oklahoma Constitution, thereby shielding the applicable substantive statutory rights from later retroactive amendment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the 1997 amendment to 85 O.S. Supp. 1997 § 43(B), which shortened from five years to three years the period for requesting adjudication of unresolved elements of a workers' compensation claim, applied to Cole's claim filed before the amendment's effective date.
2. Whether retroactive application of the amended § 43(B) would impair substantive rights protected by Article 5, § 54 of the Oklahoma Constitution.
3. Whether § 43(B) is a procedural statute of limitations or a substantive, liability-defeating defense that extinguishes rights to unadjudicated compensation benefits.

Disposition

vacated