Mahan v. NTC of America & Fireman's Fund Indemnity Co.

The court has granted certiorari to review certain “jurisdictional facts” in an appeal from the Workers’ Compensation Court. Today’s opinion concludes that the claimant, when injured, did not stand in an employment relationship to the respondent. While I join in today’s holding, I write separately to explain the conceptual and historical underpinnings for Oklahoma’s appellate de novo examination of compensation claimant’s employment status and to reaffirm that review standard’s earlier birth and current dimension as a state constitutional-law norm.

I

STATE FUNDAMENTAL LAW MANDATES DE NOVO…