The Oklahoma Supreme Court tossed out a lawsuit challenging a gubernatorial executive order that ends remote work for state employees.
The high court issued an 8-1 ruling on Tuesday that found state Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City, did not have standing to sue because he was not directly impacted by Gov. Kevin Stitt’s order that state employees return to in-person work.
Fugate, D-Oklahoma City, in February sued Stitt, arguing the Republican governor didn’t have the power to unilaterally mandate a return to the office, and it was instead the responsibility of the Legislature.
Fugate did not have legal standing to seek relief from the courts as he did not have a “personal stake” in the outcome, Chief Justice Dustin Rowe wrote in the majority opinion.
“Representative Fugate has failed to demonstrate that he – in his official capacity – has suffered an injury in fact,” Rowe wrote. “Representative Fugate has not seen his votes affected by the Executive Order, nor can Representative Fugate successfully demonstrate the Executive Order usurps legislative power.”
Rowe referenced the Oklahoma Emergency Management Act of 2003 which gives the governor power to assume “direct operational control” over the emergency management functions in Oklahoma and “empowers” whoever holds the office to “make, amend, and rescind” the necessary orders and rules to carry out the Act.
In March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stitt authorized remote work that “balances the safety and welfare of state employees with the critical services they provide.”
In December, Stitt issued an executive order requiring all state employees to end remote work by Feb. 1. Fugate’s initial lawsuit was filed in late February.
An Oklahoma County judge dismissed the lawsuit in March, but Fugate appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Stitt celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling Wednesday in a statement.
“Rep. Fugate spent months trying to stand in the way of common sense,” he said. “Taxpayers deserve to know their public servants are back at work, delivering the services they pay for and not hiding behind Zoom calls.”
Fugate said in a statement that Stitt’s claims that the court “backed” his order are false, and the Supreme Court’s order was focused on Fugate’s lack of standing to challenge the executive order.
“As with much of his leadership, this is more theater than substance,” he said. “Nearly 10,000 state employees continue to work remotely.”
Justice Douglas Combs was the only dissenting vote. He said he would send the case back to the district court for further litigation on the merits of Fugate’s claims.
He wrote that the Oklahoma Constitution requires lawmakers to pass a balanced budget and Stitt’s “unilateral policy-making actions” requires the Legislature to appropriate funds for a return-to-work policy. Combs wrote that this is evidence of Fugate’s “personal injury” in this lawsuit.
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