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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
SENATE BILL 369 By: David
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to workers’ compensation death
benefits; amending Section s 32 and 47, Chapter 208,
O.S.L. 2013, as amended by Sections 61 and 19,
Chapter 476, O.S.L. 2019 (85A O.S. Supp. 20 20,
Sections 32 and 47), which relate to permanent to tal
disability awards and beneficiari es; establishing
exception for death benefit awards to survi ving
spouses of law enforcement officers or firefighters;
and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY Section 32, C hapter 208, O.S.L.
2013, as amended by Se ction 61, Chapter 476, O.S.L. 2019 (85A O.S.
Supp. 2020, Section 32), is amended to read as follows:
Section 32. A. If an employee who is a “physically impaired
person” receives an accidental personal injury compe nsable under the
Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act which results in additional
permanent disability so that the degree of disability caused by the
combination of both disabilities results in disability materi ally
greater than that which would have r esulted from the subsequent
injury alone, the employee may proceed against the Multiple Inju ry
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Trust Fund for permanent total disability. Only disability due to
an injury to the body as a whole at a subsequent empl oyer shall be
combinable with a prior bod y disability, except that disability to a
member may be combined with disability to the body as a whole. If
such combined disabilities constitute permanent total disability, as
defined in Section 2 of this title, t he employee shall receive full
compensation as provided by law for the disability resulting
directly and specifically from the subseq uent injury. In addition,
the employee shall receive compensation for permanent total
disability if the combination of inj uries renders the employee
permanently and totally disabled. The employer shall b e liable only
for the degree of percent of disabili ty which would have resulted
from the subsequent injury if there had been no preexisting
impairment. The compensation rate for permanent total disability
awards from the Multiple Injury Trust Fund shall b e the compensation
rate for permanent partial disab ility paid by the employer in the
last combinable compensable injury.
B. Permanent total disability awards from the Multip le Injury
Trust Fund shall be payable in periodic installments for a period of
eight (8) years or until the employee reaches sixty -five (65) years
of age, whichever period is longer.
C. Permanent total disability awards from the Multiple Injury
Trust Fund shall accrue from the file date of the o rder of the
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Workers’ Compensation Commiss ion finding the claimant to be
permanently and tota lly disabled.
D. Before a physically impaired person can proceed against the
Multiple Injury Trust Fund, the previously ad judicated compensable
permanent partial disability adjudged and determined by the Workers’
Compensation Court, the Workers ’ Compensation Court of Existing
Claims or the Workers ’ Compensation Commission and the permanent
partial disability from the last inj ury must exceed fifty percent
(50%) to the body as a whole. However, amputations and loss of use
of a scheduled member qualifying as previous impairment under
paragraph 2 of subsection A of Section 30 of this title shall be
considered in lieu of previousl y adjudicated compensable permanent
partial disability.
E. Awards under this sect ion shall abate upon the death, from
any cause, of the employee.
F. Reopening any prior claim other than the last injury claim
against the employer shall not give a claimant the right to
additional Multiple Injury Trust Fund benefits.
G. The Multiple Inj ury Trust Fund shall have authority to
compromise a claim for less than the indicated amount of permanent
total disability. Orders shall be paid in periodic installments
beginning on the date of the award, unless c ommuted to a lump-sum
payment or payments, by agreement of the claimant and the Multiple
Injury Trust Fund. All offers made by the Multiple Injury Trust
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Fund pursuant to this section shall be conveyed by the claima nt’s
attorney to the claimant within five (5) days of receipt of the
offer.
H. If an order is entered finding an employee to be perm anently
totally disabled as a result of combined disability, and such order
is the result of a compromised settlement, the employee is
thereafter prohibited from ma king an additional claim against the
Multiple Injury Trust Fund. An attorney for a claimant against the
Multiple Injury Trust Fund shall be entitled to a fee equal to
twenty percent (20%) of permanent disability be nefits awarded. The
attorney fee shall b e paid in periodic installments by the at torney
receiving every fifth check. All benefits a warded to the attorney
shall be vested at the time the award becomes final.
I. In the event a claimant receiving benefits for permanent and
total disability from t he Multiple Injury Trust Fund dies as a
result of his or her injury before the award has bee n fully paid,
payments shall continue to the surviving spouse for five (5) years
or upon remarriage, whichever occurs first . However, a surviving
spouse eligible for benefits under this s ection shall remain
eligible upon remarriage if the death of the decedent occurred in
the course and scope of employment as a state or local law
enforcement officer or firefighter. In no event shall payments to
the surviving spouse extend beyond the period of benefits awa rded to
the claimant.
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SECTION 2. AMENDATORY Section 47, Chapter 208, O.S.L.
2013, as amended by Section 19, Chapter 476, O.S.L. 2019 (85A O.S.
Supp. 2020, Section 47), is amended to read as follows:
Section 47. A. Time of death. If death does not result within
one (1) year from the date of the accident or within the first three
(3) years of the period for compensation payments fixed by the
compensation judgment, a rebu ttable presumption s hall arise that the
death did not result from the injury.
B. Common law spouse. A common l aw spouse shall not be
entitled to benefits under this section unless he or she obtains an
order from the Workers ’ Compensation Commission rulin g that a common
law marriage existed between the decedent and the surviving spouse.
The ruling by the Commissio n shall be exclusive in regard to
benefits under this section regardless of any district court
decision regarding the probate of the decedent ’s estate.
C. Beneficiaries - Amounts. If an injury or occupat ional
illness causes death, weekly income benefits shall be payable as
follows:
1. If there is a surviving spouse, a lump -sum payment of One
Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) and seventy pe rcent (70%) of
the lesser of the deceased employee ’s average weekly wage and the
state average weekly wage. In addition to the benefits theretofore
paid or due, two (2) years ’ indemnity benefit in one lump sum shall
be payable to a surviving spouse upon r emarriage;
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2. If there is a surviving spouse and a child or children, a
lump-sum payment of Twenty -five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) and
fifteen percent (15%) of the lesser of the deceased employee ’s
average weekly wage and the state average weekly wage to each child.
If there are more than two children, each chi ld shall receive a pro
rata share of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) and thirty percent
(30%) of the deceased employee ’s average weekly wage;
3. If there is a child or children and no surviv ing spouse, a
lump-sum payment of Twenty-five Thousand Dollar s ($25,000.00) and
fifty percent (50%) of the lesse r of the deceased employee ’s average
weekly wage and the state average weekly wage to each child. If
there are more than two children, each chi ld shall receive a p ro
rata share of one hundred percent (100 %) of the lesser of the
deceased employee’s average weekly wage and the state average weekly
wage. With respect to the lump -sum payment, if there are more than
six children, each child shall rec eive a pro rata shar e of One
Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ( $150,000.00);
4. If there is no surviving spouse o r children, each legal
guardian, if financially dependent on the employee at the time of
death, shall receive twenty -five percent (25%) of the l esser of the
deceased employee’s average weekly wage and the state average weekly
wage until the earlier of deat h, becoming eligible for Social
Security, obtaining full -time employment, or five (5) years from the
date benefits under this section begin; and
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5. The employer shall pay the actual funeral expenses, not
exceeding the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000. 00).
D. The weekly income benefits payable to the surviving spouse
under this section shall continue while the surviving spouse remains
unmarried; provided, however, a surviving spouse eligible for
benefits under this section shall remain eli gible upon remarriage if
the death of the decedent occurred in the course and scope of
employment as a state or local law enforcement offic er or
firefighter. In no event shall this spousal weekly income benefit
be diminished by the award to other beneficiaries. The w eekly
income benefits payable to any child under this section shall
terminate on the earlier of death, marriage, or reaching the age of
eighteen (18). However, if the child turns eighteen (18) and is:
1. Enrolled as a full-time student in high school or is being
schooled by other means pursuant to the Oklahoma Constitution;
2. Enrolled as a full -time student in any accredited
institution of higher education or voc ational or technology
education; or
3. Physically or mentally incapable of self -support,
then he or she may continue to receive weekly income benefits under
this section until the earlier of reaching the age of twenty -three
(23) or, with respect to paragr aphs 1 and 2 of this subsection, no
longer being enrolled as a student, and with respect to paragraph 3
of this subsection, becoming capable of self -support.
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E. If any member of the class of beneficiaries who receive a
pro rata share of weekly income bene fits becomes ineligible to
continue to receive benefits, the remaining members of the class
shall receive adjusted weekly income benefits equal to the new class
size.
F. To receive benefits under this section, a beneficiary or his
or her guardian, if appl icable, shall file a proof of loss form w ith
the Commission. All questions of dependency sh all be determined as
of the time of the injury. The employer shall initiate payment of
benefits within fifteen (15) days of the Commission ’s determination
of the proper beneficiaries. The Commission shal l appoint a
guardian ad litem to represent known an d unknown minor children and
the guardian ad litem shall be paid a reasonable fee for his or her
services.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effecti ve November 1, 2021.
58-1-321 TEK 1/12/2021 12:08:18 PM