Braitsch v. City of Tulsa

Summary

The Oklahoma Supreme Court affirmed the Workers' Compensation Commission's decision allowing the City of Tulsa to deduct wages paid above the statutory temporary disability maximum from Kelli Braitsch's permanent partial disability award. The court held that 85A O.S. § 89 did not violate procedural or substantive due process and was not an unconstitutional special law under the Oklahoma Constitution. The court also concluded that application of the statute did not impair Braitsch's collective bargaining agreement.

Holdings

1. Application of 85A O.S. § 89 did not violate procedural due process because Braitsch's permanent partial disability award was calculated under the statute in effect when she was injured, and she received notice, a hearing, representation by counsel, and an opportunity to contest the deduction.
2. Section 89 did not violate substantive due process because its deduction mechanism was rationally related to legitimate governmental interests in fairness, efficiency, objectivity, predictability, and uniformity in workers' compensation awards.
3. Section 89 is a general law, not an impermissible special law, because it applies uniformly to all similarly situated employers that pay wages above the temporary-disability maximum and all employees who receive those wages, without creating a subclass for different treatment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether application of 85A O.S. § 89 denied Braitsch procedural due process by reducing her permanent partial disability award.
2. Whether 85A O.S. § 89 violated substantive due process by shifting an economic burden to an injured worker without a legitimate state interest.
3. Whether 85A O.S. § 89 constituted an unconstitutional special law under article 5, sections 46 and 59 of the Oklahoma Constitution.

Disposition

affirmed