§ 85A-120. Inquiry about compensation claims.

A.  Except as otherwise provided by state or federal law and subject to the provisions of this section, an employer may inquire about previous workers' compensation claims paid to an employee while the employee was employed by a previous employer.  If the employee fails to answer truthfully about any previous permanent partial disability awards made pursuant to workers' compensation claims, the employee shall be subject to discharge by the employer.

B.  1.  All requests made to the Workers' Compensation Commission for information on prior workers' compensation claims involving a worker, including written inquiries about prior claims and requests to access a worker's compensation claim file, must be in writing, on a form prescribed by the Commission, and accompanied by a fee of One Dollar ($1.00) per search request, not to exceed One Dollar ($1.00) per claims record of a particular worker.  The fee shall be deposited to the credit of the Workers' Compensation Fund.  The form shall require identification of the person requesting the information, and the person for whom a search is being made if different from the requester.  The form must contain an affidavit signed by the requester under penalty of perjury that the information sought is not requested for a purpose in violation of state or federal law.  The form must be used by all repositories of archived Court claim files.  All request forms shall be maintained by the Commission as a public record, together with a record of a worker's written authorization permitting a search indexed by the worker's social security number as required by Section 3113 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  The request forms and authorizations shall be indexed alphabetically by the last name of the worker.

2.  This subsection shall not apply:

a.to requests for claims information made by a public officer or by a public employee in the performance of his or her duties on behalf of a governmental entity or as may be allowed by law,

b.to requests for claims information made by an insurer, self-insured employer, third-party claims administrator, or a legal representative thereof, when necessary to process or defend a workers' compensation claim,

c.when a worker or the worker's representative requests review of the worker's claims information,

d.when the disclosure is made for educational or research purposes and in such a manner that the disclosed information cannot be used to identify any worker who is the subject of a claim,

e.to requests for claims information made by a health care or rehabilitation provider or the provider's legal representative when necessary to process payment of health care or rehabilitation services rendered to a worker, and

f.to requests for claims information made by an employer or personnel service company, including but not limited to an individual or entity, where the worker executes a written authorization permitting the search and designating the employer or personnel service company as the worker's representative for that purpose; however, nothing in this subparagraph shall relieve the employer or personnel service company from complying with the requirements of utilizing the form set forth in paragraph 1 of this subsection.

Added by Laws 2013, c. 208, § 163, eff. Feb. 1, 2014.