Okla. Stat. tit. 85A, § 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 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

Commission Revolving 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.