The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently gave a partial victory to Cushing-based Hough Oilfield Service in its attempts to recover nearly $176,000 from a former employee and her husband.
Hough Oilfield, a firm started in 1980 by David Hough and later renamed HOTCO, filed suit in 2012 against Linda Newton and Randall Newton. Linda Newton had admitted to embezzling $175,787.05 and was given a suspended sentence of seven years in October 2013.
The firm named the husband as a defendant contending the money his wife stole from the company unjustly enriched him. A Payne County judge dismissed the suit, claiming the company failed to serve any summons and was time-barred in a refiling of the suit.
But the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled this month the lower court was correct in dismissing the case against Randall Newton but was wrong in dismissing the suit against Linda Newton.
The ruling means the lawsuit against Linda Newton can proceed in Payne County District Court.