Fry v. American Home Assurance Co.

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

NEIL M. GORSUCH, Circuit Judge. After her husband was tragically killed while working on an oil well, Eve Fry sued his employer, AOK Energy Services, in Oklahoma state court. But Ms. Fry faced a problem: Oklahoma’s Workers’ Compensation Act. That statute affords some compensation to relatives of workers who suffer fatal “accidents” while on the job. Okla. Stat. tit. 85, § 11 (2006). But it also generally forbids workers and their heirs from suing an employer for more money. See id. § 12. So it seemed Ms. Fry faced a statutory barrier to suit.

Seeking a way around the…