Latest Oklahoma Headlines
All the headlines from our Oklahoma Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Combs Named Chief of Staff at Oklahoma Insurance Department
Oct 8 2019 // Oklahoma Insurance Department Deputy Commissioner of Licensing Services & Policy Counsel Buddy Combs has been appointed to fill an upcoming chief of staff and first deputy commissioner vacancy at the department. The...
Johnson & Johnson Says Oklahoma Judge Miscalculated Opioid Award
Oct 3 2019 // An Oklahoma judge made a $107 million miscalculation when he ordered consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million to help clean up the state’s opioid crisis, attorneys for the company argue in a...
Relation Insurance Acquires Oklahoma’s Premier Consulting Partners
Oct 3 2019 // Relation Insurance Services (Relation) has acquired the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based insurance brokerage Premier Consulting Partners LLC (Premier). Founded in 2014 by CEO Russell Brown, Premier offers a full suite of...
Manufacturer, Staffing Agency Sued for Harassment, Retaliation at Oklahoma Site
Oct 2 2019 // U.S. officials say Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) and ManpowerGroup US Inc. (Manpower) violated federal law when they fired a female employee who complained about sexual harassment at a JCI manufacturing facility in Norman,...
Johnson & Johnson Appeals $572M Ruling in Oklahoma Opioid Lawsuit
Sep 30 2019 // Consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson is appealing an Oklahoma judge’s $572 million order against the company and its subsidiaries for helping fuel the state’s opioid crisis. The company filed an appeal...
Workers’ Comp Loss Costs to Drop 5% in Oklahoma Next Year
Sep 24 2019 // A 5.1% percent decrease in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs in Oklahoma for 2020 has been approved by Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready, the state insurance department announced. Loss costs are the...
Feds Sue Oklahoma Car Dealership for Sex Discrimination
Sep 16 2019 // Federal employment officials have sued a car dealership in Norman, Oklahoma, saying the company unlawfully refused to hire a sales job candidate because she was female. In the lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...
Business Moves
Sep 16 2019 // National Arch Insurance, Ventus Risk Management Arch Insurance North America has agreed to acquire Ventus Risk Management, a technology and analytics- driven managing general underwriter that specializes in providing...
Organizational Change Plan OK’d by Policyholders of Wisconsin’s Jewelers Mutual
Sep 13 2019 // Policyholders of Neenah, Wisconsin-based Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. have approved the company’s plan to convert its corporate structure to a mutual holding company. Policyholders voted Sept. 12 to approve the...
Oklahoma Law Enforcement Pension Fund Reports $4.2M Cyber Theft
Sep 9 2019 // The FBI is investigating after computer hackers managed to steal about $4.2 million in funds from a pension system for retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers and other state law enforcement officers, state officials said...
Midwest Economic Survey Suggests Little or No Growth on Horizon
Sep 4 2019 // An August survey of business supply managers suggested slow or no economic growth over the next several months in nine Midwest and Plains states, in part because of trade skirmishes, according to a newly released...
5 New Insurance Companies OK’d to Do Business in Arkansas
Sep 4 2019 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr has approved five new insurance companies to operate in the state, bringing to 103 the number of new insurance companies approved since January 2015, according to the Arkansas...
People & Places
Sep 2 2019 // National Reinsurance broker BMS Group has named Pete Chandler as president of its U.S. reinsurance operations. Chandler joins from JLT Re, where he was deputy CEO of the U.S. reinsurance broking arm of the group. He joined...
Concerns Arise About How Oklahoma’s Opioid Settlement Money Will Be Used
Aug 29 2019 // Oklahoma’s legal fight against the opioid industry has racked up settlements and judgments of nearly $1 billion, but as the numbers keep rising, so do concerns over how that money will be spent. Experts say the $572...
Storm Spawns Possible Tornado in Oklahoma
Aug 28 2019 // A storm that rolled through central Oklahoma on Monday left thousands without power, spawned a possible tornado and led to about a dozen high water rescues. National Weather Service meteorologist John Pike said...
Burger King Franchise in Oklahoma to Pay $30K to Settle Disability Discrimination Suit
Aug 28 2019 // The operators of a Lawton, Okla., Burger King restaurant have agreed to pay $30,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by federal officials. In a lawsuit filed in July 2018, the...
Why J&J Opioid Lawsuit Could Mean Real Culprits Are Let Off the Hook: Viewpoint
Aug 28 2019 // In 1977, after an electrical fire destroyed the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, killing 165 people, a plaintiffs’ lawyer named Stanley Chesley came up with a novel way to recover money for the...
Other Opioid Lawsuit Plaintiffs Welcome Oklahoma Ruling Affirming Public Nuisance
Aug 27 2019 // While some Johnson & Johnson investors were relieved that the company’s $572 million penalty for fueling Oklahoma’s opioid epidemic wasn’t as high as feared, lawyers for other U.S. states, cities and...
J&J Found Liable; Ordered to Pay Less Than Investors Feared in Oklahoma Opioid Trial
Aug 26 2019 // An Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572.1 million to the state for its part in fueling an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers. J&J said it would to appeal the...
One General Agency Acquires Renewal Rights to Oklahoma City MGA’s Business
Aug 26 2019 // One General Agency (OGA) has acquired the renewal rights to the book of business previously owned by Oklahoma City-based Acton Inc. (Acton). Acton President Eric Acton will be joining the OGA staff. One General Agency...
