OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma County judge denied State Treasurer Todd Russ’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Oklahoma’s law that forbids state government entities from doing business with financial institutions that “discriminate” against the oil and gas industry.
District Judge Sheila Stinson issued her ruling after listening to arguments and reviewing legal briefs filed by attorneys for both parties.
Donald Keenan of Glenpool sued Russ over his enforcement of House Bill 2034, the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act of 2022, which prohibits the state from doing business with financial institutions deemed to be hostile to the energy industry.
Keenan served 19.5 years in the military and later worked for the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission in 1985-96 as the Disabled Veterans Employment Representative. He also is a member and former president of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.
After he retired from state service, Keenan was employed by the Sinclair refinery in Tulsa as its human resources director.
As a former Sinclair employee, Keenan “does not have any objections to oil and gas operations and believes they are important and critical to the world economy,” his attorney, former state Representative Collin Walke, wrote.
However, as a retiree in the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, Keenan “does object to his retirement benefits being depleted because the Treasurer believes that making political statements with retiree dollars is more important than taking care of retirees themselves.”
He said his lawsuit is intended to ensure that the State Treasurer “abides by his Oklahoma constitutional and statutory obligations to operate the retirement systems for the ‘exclusive benefit’ of its pensioners.”
The lawsuit is still active, Walke confirmed for Southwest Ledger.