Ruling Returns Appeals to Existing Claims Court

By Joey Berlin, Southern Bureau ChiefThe Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled last week that the Workers’ Compensation Court of Existing Claims – even as it’s being ever-so-slowly phased out -- will still handle appeals from cases over which it had jurisdiction when it was still the Workers’ Compensation Court.Reforms passed last year transitioned adjudication of workers’ compensation claims to an administrative court operating under the new Workers’ Compensation Commission, effective Feb. 1. The old court, renamed the Court of Existing Claims, still handles claims ...