Elam v. Workers' Compensation Court of Oklahoma

At issue here is the constitutional validity of a provision in 85 O.S.1981 § 3.6 which requires the employer who seeks appellate review of an award made against him by the Workers’ Compensation Court to post a surety bond for the payment of the amount finally to be determined, together with interest and costs. The bond is a “jurisdictional prerequisite to judicial review.”1 Twice in the last two years this court upheld the statutory requirement here in contest.2 Neither of these decisions comes to grips with the infirmity claims being pressed upon us here. Because I am persuaded that the…