Housekeeping, in a manner of speaking, has taken place in the lawsuit that resulted in a suspension of the enforcement of Oklahoma’s anti-ESG Act and a recent court ruling against the two-year old law.
Shortly after Oklahoma County District Judge Sheila Stinson granted summary judgment in retiree Don Keenan’s lawsuit against the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Elimination Act, attorneys for the State Treasurer and for Keenan filed a motion with the State Supreme Court to dismiss an appeal of the judge’s temporary injunction last spring.
As the attorneys for the state and for Keenan stated in their motion to dismiss appeals, “this appeal of the preliminary injunction is now moot. The State will file an appeal of the summary judgment orders.”
It means the case is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. Keenan filed suit in December 2023 claiming his retirement benefits through the state were harmed because of the Treasurer’s enforcement of the Act.
The Judge, in her summary judgment, determined the Act was unconstitutional. She earlier had barred Treasurer Todd Russ from enforcing the act and banning some financial firms from doing business in the state because of their discrimination against the oil and gas industry.