A state retiree seeks to overturn Oklahoma’s ‘woke’ investment ban
By CLIFTON ADCOCK – readfrontier.org
A former state employee, backed by pension groups and an organization that represents public workers, is suing to overturn an Oklahoma law banning the state from doing business with financial firms accused of boycotting the fossil fuel industry.
Don Keenan worked at the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission as a disabled veterans employment and senior interviewer from 1985 to 1996, and is also the former head of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. Keenan filed the lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court on Monday.
As a state retiree, Keenan claims in the lawsuit he is opposed to “his retirement benefits being depleted because the State of Oklahoma believes that making political statements with retiree dollars is more important than taking care of retirees themselves.”
The lawsuit claims the state’s Energy Discrimination Elimination Act, enacted in 2022, violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as provisions in the state constitution that require state pension systems operate exclusively for the benefit of their beneficiaries.