The former Oklahoma state employee who challenged Oklahoma’s Energy Discrimination Elimination Act in a 2023 lawsuit and won a judge’s ruling which resulted in an Attorney General’s appeal still in the hands of the state supreme court died recently.
But the death won’t delay the Supreme Court’s consideration of an appeal by the Attorney General of an Oklahoma County District Judge’s ruling that put the law on hold.
Court records in the lawsuit by Donald Keenan against Oklahoma State Treasurer Todd Russ and his enforcement of the law revealed he died April 7 in Glenpool. He was 81 and previously worked for the Oklahoma Employment Securities Administration, during which time he served as two-time President of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.
Keenan’s obituary said it was in that capacity he “protected the rights of active and retired state workers.” The obituary notice also took note of his activism and challenge of the anti-ESG law.
“Don was always wanting to help others. If that weren’t enough, in full retirement Don became the Plaintiff in a 2024 lawsuit against the Oklahoma State Treasurer to protect retired state employee’s money – and won.”
But the ruling by Oklahoma County District Judge Sheila Stinson was appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court by Attorney General Gentner Drummond where the case has been slowly making its way since January 2025. Keenan’s attorney, former state legislator Collin Walke filed a motion following the death, asking the supreme court to allow him to name a “Substitute Party.”
In his request, Walke maintained that Keenan’s death would not impair any judgment because none had been made by the Supreme Court. He contended that no substitution was really necessary but he affirmed “that a qualified taxpayer in the state of Oklahoma stands ready to be substituted.”
Before arguing against Walke’s request, State Solicitor Garry Gaskins offered condolences to the Keenan family, then maintained in early May that Walke was no longer legally authorized to seek a substitute for Keenan. He further challenged Walke’s representation by stating, “This Court has made clear that “the authority of a deceased party’s attorney ceases upon the death of that party” and that “Appellee’s counsel at the time of his death has no present authority to seek leave of court to substitute a party.”
But this week, Chief Justice Dustin P. Rowe denied Walke’s request and ordered the case to proceed.
“No named person is before the Court seeking to be named as a party to substitute for the deceased appellee. This motion filed by counsel for deceased appellee is DENIED,” he wrote in his June 23 decision.
“The appeal shall proceed as an appeal authorized by Okla.Sup.Ct.R. 1.36, and the trial court briefs are the appellate
briefs. No additional briefs are necessary. No amicus curiae briefs shall be filed.”
Justices Winchester, Edmondson, Combs, Gurich and Darby concurred with the Chief Justice while Justices Keuhn and Kane were in dissent. Newly-named Justice Travis Jett, sworn in this week, recused himself from the case.
Filings in the case also show another group, Democracy Forward Foundation, joined the efforts of the Oklahoma Retirees Association which included Keenan in filing the original lawsuit. Two attorneys requested permission to join the case as Amicus Curiae or “friend of the court.”
The Washington, D.C.-based group’s website described itself this way: “Across the country, from local school boards to the halls of Congress, extreme, anti-democratic movements seek to wield political power and roll back our rights. At this critical moment where those who were responsible for January 6th have returned to power, we must use the law to defend our democracy and build for a better future.The courts are now the frontline in the battleground for democracy, not merely the last resort protectors of it.”
