Litigation

Court affirms Osage Nation's immunity in casino insurance case

Friday, June 29, 2012

The Osage Nation can't be sued in state court by a casino employee due to sovereign immunity, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

An employee of the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino fell and was injured while on the job. He filed a claim in Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court but the Supreme Court said the tribe enjoys immunity.

However, the court ruled that the tribe's insurance company cannot avoid the state's jursidiction. The court noted that the tribe lacks its own forum to resolve workers' compensation claims.

"The Osage Nation is entirely within its authority should it choose to enact a workers' compensation ordinance and provide a tribal forum," the decision stated. "In the absence of such ordinance or forum, however, insurer is not entitled to evade liability."

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Waltrip v. Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino.

Get the Story:
OFF BEAT: Osage Nation, not insurer, has sovereign immunity in workers comp case (Business Insurance 6/28)