The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision to overturn an exemption in the state’s workers compensation law that protected the oil and natural gas industry was welcomed by several stakeholders.

As part of a 2015 workers compensation overhaul in Oklahoma, a law that prevented oil and natural gas companies from being sued if a worker was killed or injured on the job was enacted, but the state Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 23 that the exemption was unconstitutional.

“Everyone expects that if you are an employee and you are hurt at work you can get workers compensation benefits ... but Oklahoma’s legislature enacted a specific exclusion in a statute that applied to an operator or owner of an oil and natural gas well ... the effect of that was those oil and well operators or producers have the benefit of the exclusive remedy of workers comp even though these weren’t their employees,” said Don Lawless, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based partner at Barnes & Thornburg L.L.P.

In 2014, David Chambers, an employee of RDT Trucking Inc., was working at a Crescent, Oklahoma-based oil well site picking up wastewater. At the oil well, Mr. Chambers worked on or around a “heater treater” device. While working, Mr. Chambers suffered severe burns that eventually led to his death, according to court documents in Strickland v. Stephens Production Co.

Glory Strickland, Mr. Chambers’ daughter, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners and operators of the oil well site, Stephens Production Co., for negligence, failure to inspect the well and failure to warn of its dangers, according to court documents.

Stephens Production filed a motion to dismiss, citing protection under the Oklahoma Administrative Workers Compensation Act, which states that “any operator or owner of an oil or gas well . . . shall be deemed to be an intermediate or principal employer”. This exempts oil and natural gas companies from being sued when workers are injured or killed.

Stephens Production Co., which could not be reached for comment, was not Mr. Chambers’ direct employer.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court denied the motion to dismiss and found the law unconstitutional.

“The defendant, an owner and operator of an oil well, argued that oil/gas companies should be treated differently than other industries because they needed ‘certainty,’” said Helene R. Hechtkopf, New York-based partner at Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney L.L.P.

The court found no valid reason for the distinction offered to oil and natural gas companies.

“The Supreme Court of Oklahoma ... said this is a special law because you are deeming one industry different from any other in the state,” said Mr. Lawless. “It went on to say there is nothing really special about the oil and gas production industry compared to a lot of other employers in this state who have a lot of contractors, similar complexity, similar type of liability exposure. This statute violates that provision of our constitution. This really unique application of the exclusive remedy of workers comp to one industry in Oklahoma was found to be an aberration that wasn’t supported by their constitution.”

Luke Abel, the attorney for David Chamber’s family with the Abel Law Firm in Oklahoma City, applauded the court for “standing up for injured Oklahomans.”

“The legislation at issue deemed the owner and operator to be an employer of anyone who is injured working on a well, and therefore limited injured workers to claims in the workers’ compensation system,” Mr. Abel said in an emailed statement. “I am not aware of any other law which gives special treatment to only one particular industry. The Supreme Court decision puts the oil and gas industry on the same level as all other industries as it relates to injured workers.”

“It is critical to an efficient workers’ compensation system that Oklahoma’s legislature and courts provide as broad a scope as possible for applying ‘principal employer’ for exclusive remedy purposes,” said Steve Bennett, associate general counsel at American Insurance Association in Washington.

It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court’s decision will not affect the rights of the direct employees of the owner and/or operator of the gas or oil well, said Ms. Hechtkopf.

 “They still will be prevented from suing because they receive compensation from workers compensation,” she said.

The Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce declined to comment.