Walter E. Tate, Plaintiff v. Browning-Ferris, Inc., a Foreign Corporation, Defendant

Summary

The court answered affirmatively that an at-will employee may pursue an Oklahoma public-policy tort claim based on racially discriminatory or retaliatory discharge even when the same conduct allegedly violates federal and state discrimination statutes. It held that federal law does not preempt the claim and that Oklahoma's anti-discrimination statute does not expressly or implicitly make its administrative remedies exclusive. The court also emphasized that cumulative theories may not produce more than one complete recovery.