Summary: Mariani was struck by an employee of Oklahoma State University who was driving negligently and suffered over $130,000 worth of injuries. Oklahoma State University carries no liability insurance policy on its vehicles and is a self-insured portion of the state government. Prior to trial, Mariani sought and obtained $125,000 from her own insurance and uninsured motorist insurance. At trial Mariani was awarded a total recover of $175,000. The state of Oklahoma sought to be given credit for the $125,000 previously received by Mariani from her private insurance, meaning the total amount to be paid by the state would have been approximately $50,000. The trial court refused the request and the state appealed.
Legal Issue: If an injured party receives benefits or compensation for the injury from a party other than the tortfeasor, do those other benefits serve to lessen the tortfeasor's liability? In Oklahoma the answer to that question is "no". Oklahoma follows what is known as the 'collateral source' rule, which provides that compensation given to the injured party from a collateral source wholly independent of the wrongdoer does not operate to lessen the damages recoverable from the person who causes the injury.
However, as might be expected, the government itself is not just any other 'wrongdoer'. Under the common law, the government was immune to liability in tort. In the modern setting, the government has relinquished its immunity in the form of the Oklahoma Government Tort Claims Act, 51 O.S. §151 et seq. (the "OGTCA"). Generally speaking, the OGTCA provides a specific mechanism to sue the state for torts like any other entity so long as certain filing requirements are met. In this case, the state alleged that the collateral source rule had been eliminated by the OGTCA in 58 O.S. §158(D) and §167(E).
The Oklahoma Supreme Court examined the statutes in question and found that this provision allows for the state to receive the benefit of insurance policies held by the state for the state's benefit, but that the language does not authorize the state to assume the benefit of insurance policies held by the injured party. The Court went on to note that in states with similar governmental tort claim statutes that did expressly exempt the state from the collateral source rule, that the language used by those states differed dramatically from the language used by the Oklahoma legislature.
Discussion: Individuals may seek to sue the state of Oklahoma for tort, but in so doing they will face a more stringent set of filing requirements. At the end of the day, however, the state is liable for damages it causes in tort like any other party. This may give the state cause to revisit its self-insurance policy, especially as pertains to motor vehicles.
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