Oklahoma Top Court: No Preemption Where ERISA Plan Is ‘Factual Backdrop’

(June 22, 2017, 1:56 PM EDT) -- OKLAHOMA CITY — On remand, a trial court must consider whether a woman’s class action claiming that a hospital improperly sought collection from her in violation of its contract with her insurer invokes an Employee Retirement Income Security Act plan or whether the plan is merely part of the “factual backdrop” of the case, a divided Oklahoma Supreme Court held June 21 (Elizabeth Cates v. INTEGRIS Health Inc., No. 114314, Okla. Sup., 2017 Okla. LEXIS 53)....