Court dismisses Paycom lawsuit against Oklahoma think tank
(The Center Square) – A Oklahoma County District Court dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit filed last year by Paycom, the payroll software company located in Oklahoma City, against the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.
In legal terms, a case that is dismissed with prejudice means it is permanently over and cannot be brought back to court.
“Since 1993, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has been a voice for free enterprise, limited government, individual initiative and personal responsibility,” OCPA President Jonathan Small said in a statement. “We have never shied away from advocating for those values and the working families of Oklahoma, and we never will – even if it angers a $22 billion tech company and they try to cancel our voice and the right to free speech enjoyed by the thousands of Oklahomans we represent.”
The issue began last March when Paycom CEO Chad Richison sent a letter to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt with suggestions on what the state should do to combat the growing coronavirus pandemic.
Among Richison’s suggestions was banning non-essential airport travel, limiting grocery stores to drive-through pick up or delivery services and temporarily suspending personal care services such as hair salons, nail salons, spas and massage parlors.
The following day, Ray Carter, director of the Center for Independent Journalism at OCPA, mentioned Richison’s letter in a post about Stitt’s response to the virus.
“Some individuals have called for Stitt to order most businesses to close and have the government control how others operate,” Carter wrote. “Chad Richison, CEO of Paycom, is among those who have advocated such actions.”
Paycom’s lawsuit said OCPA “continues to harbor animosity and malice” toward the company and said the think tank’s actions led to a loss of revenue for Paycom and accused OCPA of “tortious interference,” which is a legal term that implies an individual or group intentionally damages another’s business relationships with a third party.
Court documents show that Paycom claimed it paid nearly $14,600 to a public relations firm in “mitigation expenses to address or respond to the actions of OCPA,” and suffered a loss of $645,613 in annualized revenue.
“Paycom has not identified the loss of any specific clients, existing or prospective, and/or that it suffered the breach of any identified contract due to the publication by OCPA,” the presiding judge wrote in his opinion.
“This is an important victory for all Oklahomans, for the First Amendment rights of free speech and a free press, and a crucial victory against ‘cancel culture’ in Oklahoma,” Small said in his statement.
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