Intentional Torts Fall Outside Scope of Workers' Compensation Act

A divided Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that intentional torts are outside the purview of the workers' compensation system. The high court's decision in Wells v. Okahoma Roofing & Sheet Metal also defined an intentional tort to include actions that are likely to cause an injury. "An employer's 'specific intent' to injure, or knowledge that an injury is 'substantially certainty to result,' equate to an intentional tort," the court said. "Both require a knowledge of foreseeable consequences and are interpreted to mean intentionally knowing culpable...