CJ-2026-00025 - The Bumpers Haskell County Trust dba B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC v. Gerald Rana and Linda Rana

What's This Case About?

Imagine this: you’re running a rock mine. Not a gold mine, not a diamond mine—a rock mine. And not just any rocks, either. We’re talking dimensional rock, the kind that gets crushed up and turned into roads, buildings, maybe even your fancy patio. It’s honest work. It’s profitable. It’s… locked out for fifty months by a guy who apparently hates both geology and basic property law.

Meet Dr. Gerald Rana—a man who, despite having a medical degree (presumably not in contract law), decided to buy a 585-acre ranch in Haskell County, Oklahoma, knowing full well it came with a pre-existing rock mining lease. The lease, signed in 2014, belonged to the Bumpers Haskell County Trust, doing business as B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC—basically, a family operation run by Rick Bumpers, who’s been pulling rocks out of that land like a legal, licensed Indiana Jones. The deal was simple: $7.50 per ton of rock mined, paid monthly. No drama. No drama until Gerald and his wife Linda Rana, along with their LLC Rana Acres, LLC, showed up like uninvited guests at a family reunion and decided they wanted the whole property to themselves—even the parts they didn’t technically own.

Here’s where things go full Hillbilly Elegy meets Empire (the soap opera, not the historical one). The Bumpers family had been mining there for years when the Ranas bought the land in 2017. And according to the lawsuit, Gerald wasn’t exactly thrilled. In writing, no less, he allegedly told the previous owner: “If this lease isn’t valid, I’m still interested in the property.” Which, in legal terms, is like saying, “I’ll take the car, but only if the title isn’t real.” He bought it anyway—lease and all—so legally, the Bumpers’ right to mine was still rock-solid. Pun intended.

But Gerald, allegedly, wasn’t having it. The petition paints a picture of a man on a mission: he reportedly called Wes Bumpers (Rick’s father, we assume) a “bully,” accused undocumented workers of killing his cattle (though no proof is offered), blamed the Bumpers for a trash can tipped over by his own cows, and—here’s the kicker—started locking the gates to the property. Not just once. Not twice. For fifty months. That’s four years and two months of being locked out. Imagine showing up to your job every day only to find the front door chained shut by your landlord, who also happens to be your neighbor, and who keeps yelling about illegal Mexicans and dirty ranches while you stand there in work boots with nowhere to go.

And this wasn’t just a minor inconvenience. The Bumpers weren’t just mining rocks—they were running a business. Equipment sat idle. Permits had to be renewed. Bonds stayed active. All while the mine sat silent, gathering dust and regret. The financial toll? $455,550 in lost production, plus $4,420 in ongoing permit and bond costs—totaling $459,970 in damages. That’s not chump change in Haskell County, where the median household income hovers around $40,000. This is nearly half a million bucks in lost revenue because one man with a key and a grudge decided to play gatekeeper.

But wait—it gets weirder. In 2017, Gerald filed a lawsuit of his own (Case #CJ-17-49), claiming the Bumpers were underpaying on royalties. That case dragged on for eight years. Eight years of depositions, motions, legal fees—$55,037.70 of them, according to the petition, paid by the Bumpers just to defend their right to mine rocks. And then, right before the court was about to rule on whether Gerald could even file a counterclaim, he did the legal equivalent of a tactical retreat: he dropped the whole case. No verdict. No judgment. No accountability. Just… poof. Vanished. Which meant the Bumpers couldn’t even recoup their legal fees, because under Oklahoma law, you need a “prevailing party” to get costs—and when a case is dismissed without prejudice, nobody wins. It’s like losing a marathon because the other runner quit halfway, but the trophy gets thrown in the trash.

Now, the Bumpers are back in court, this time as the plaintiffs. They’re making two big claims. First: Breach of Contract. Simple enough. You signed (well, inherited) a lease. You locked us out. You broke the deal. We lost money. Pay up. The second claim is juicier: Tortious Interference with Contractual Relationship. In plain English: “You didn’t just break the contract—you tried to sabotage it from the start.” The petition alleges Gerald tried to pressure the previous owner to terminate the lease before even closing on the property, then spent years trying to get it invalidated through lawsuits and accusations. And now? He’s still locking the gates, even after a court hearing forced him to open them back up on June 19, 2024. That date is burned into this case like a brand—April 2020 to June 2024. Fifty months. A small eternity in the rock business.

The Bumpers want $459,970 in actual damages—mostly lost profits and ongoing costs. That’s a lot of rock. At $7.50 per ton, they’d have needed to mine and sell over 61,000 tons during that period to make that back. But here’s the twist: they’re also asking for punitive damages—which, in Oklahoma, are meant to punish really bad behavior. They don’t specify the amount, but in their second cause of action, they say they’re seeking over $75,000 in punitive damages alone. That tells you everything: this isn’t just about money. It’s about sending a message. “You didn’t just mess up our business,” they’re saying. “You did it maliciously. You did it on purpose. And we want the court to slap your hand.”

So what’s the most absurd part? Is it that a man with a medical degree can’t seem to grasp the concept of “subject to existing lease”? Is it that he blamed migrant workers for his own cows knocking over trash? Is it that a rock mine—a literal rock mine*—became the center of an eight-year legal war? Or is it that someone thought locking out a business for over four years was a reasonable way to negotiate?

Honestly? We’re rooting for the rocks. The Bumpers aren’t asking for the moon. They’re asking for what they were promised: the right to dig up stone and sell it, like they’ve been doing since 2014. Gerald Rana, meanwhile, seems to have treated the entire situation like a personal vendetta, throwing lawsuits and locks around like confetti. He bought the ranch knowing the lease existed. He tried to kill it. He failed. Then he locked the gate and said, “No more rocks.” That’s not business. That’s pettiness with a property deed.

And in the end, that’s what this case is really about: one man’s stubborn refusal to accept that some things—like contracts, and cows, and the legitimate use of land—aren’t up for debate. Especially not over a trash can full of soda cans.

Case Overview

$459,970 Demand Petition

Jurisdiction

District Court of Haskell County, Oklahoma

Filing Attorney

Stone B. Sanders

CONKLIN & SANDERS, PLLC

Relief Sought

$459,970 Monetary

$1 Punitive

Plaintiffs

The Bumpers Haskell County Trust dba B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC business
Rep: Stone B. Sanders, OBA #21346

Defendants

Gerald Rana and Linda Rana individual
Rana Acres, LLC business

Claims

#	Cause of Action	Description
1	Breach of Contract	Plaintiff alleges that Defendant breached a contract for mining rock on the subject property by locking the Plaintiff out for approximately 50 months.
2	Tortious Interference with Contractual Relationship	Plaintiff alleges that Defendant tortiously and maliciously interfered with Plaintiff's contractual rights by attempting to get the property owner to terminate the contract and by locking the Plaintiff out of the property.

Petition Text

1,445 words

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF HASKELL COUNTY STATE OF OKLAHOMA The Bumpers Haskell County Trust, dba B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC, Plaintiff, vs. Gerald Rana and Linda Rana Husband and wife, and Rana Acres, LLC, Defendants Case No. CJ-24-25 Filed in the Office of COURT CLERK HASKELL, COUNTY, OKLA. APR 15 2026 TINA OAKS, Court Clerk Deputy PETITION COMES NOW the Plaintiffs, The Bumpers Haskell County Trust dba B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC, for their Petition and First Cause of Action against the Defendants, Gerald Rana and Linda Rana, and Rana Acres, LLC, alleges and states as follows: 1. The Plaintiffs are entities doing business within the State of Oklahoma. 2. The Defendants own the subject property within Haskell County, Oklahoma. The address for service upon the Defendants is 810 Hwy 2 North, Wilburton, OK 74578; or 3226 NW Highbridge Rd., Wilburton, OK 74578; and the registered service agent Hillary Campagna at 110 E. Main, Wilburton, OK 74578. 3. That the Defendants are the owners in fee simple absolute of the below described property to wit: SW/4 of SE/4 of Section 18 and W/2 of the W/2 and NE/4 of NW/4, and SE/4 of SW/4 and E/2 less 15 acres in E/2 of NE/4 of NE/4 of Section 19, 7 North, Range 19 East Haskell County, state of Oklahoma, containing 585 acres more or less. 4. The Defendants purchased the property from the previous owner, Margaret L. Cloud, Trustee of the Marvin R. Cloud and Margaret L. Cloud Revocable Living Trust, whom the Plaintiff has a valid lease for mining rock on the subject property above. This purchase was subject to said valid lease. 5. The Plaintiffs obtained said material lease agreement on September 15, 2014. 6. That the subject material lease agreement allowed the Plaintiff to mine, extract, remove and take all merchantable and marketable rock owned in and under premises for the consideration of $10.00 and in addition $7.50 per 2000 pounds per ton of dimensional rock that was mined, shipped and sold from said premises above described. 7. That the said royalties were required to be paid on a monthly basis. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION BREACH OF CONTRACT 8. That the contract granted the Plaintiff/Lessee the “right to mine, extract, remove and take from said premised all merchantable and marketable rock owned in and under said premises, with the right to remove and stock pile, but not to sell, any and all top soil or “overburden” above said rock and also Lessee shall have the right to use necessary space for the construction of hoppers, bins, and stock pile on said premises, all without any payment in addition to the royalties and other payments herein specially provided for.” 9. That the Defendant’s breached the contract by placing locks on the said entrance gates and making “notice” demands prior to entry, which breached the contract and caused Plaintiff to have loss of production. 10. The Defendants, have purposefully locked the Plaintiff out of the property for a period of approximately 50 months, from April 2020 to June 19, 2024. The Plaintiff had to gain access back into the mine with assistance from this Court at a hearing regarding opening the locked gate and allowing Plaintiffs and their equipment/employees to gain access to the mine. Due to the Defendant’s intentional and wrongful action of consistently locking the Plaintiff out of the property/mine, the Defendants have breached the material lease agreement, and the Plaintiff has been damaged in the amount of $455,550.00 in loss of production/sales alone, all due to the willful actions of the Defendants. Additionally, the annual permits and bonds for the relevant time period of being locked out of the premises causing the loss of production, cost the Plaintiff and additional $4,420.00, for a total amount of $459,970.00. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray for judgment in their favor for the amount requested herein in actual damages, as well as any and all other relief it may be entitled to under the law, including cost and attorney fees. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP COMES NOW the Plaintiffs, The Bumpers Haskell County Trust dba B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC, for their Petition and Second Cause of Action against the Defendant, Gerald Rana and Rana Acres, LLC, alleges and states as follows: 11. That Dr. Gerald Rana and his wife purchased the property of Margaret Cloud, that has a rock mine located on the property, in approximately May of 2017, admittedly subject to the lease agreement. 12. That prior to the purchase of the ranch, that was subject to the lease at issue referenced in the Plaintiff’s Petition, Dr. Rana immediately began stating his dislike of the lease, and even put into writing that the lease could “greatly affect” his use of the property, that “if this lease is not a valid lease then I am still interested in the property.” Further, he even asked the previous owner and land broker to “Please, take care of the lease problem as quickly as possible.” 13. Dr. Rana purchased the property, anyway, knowing that it was subject to the rock mining lease. 14. Thereafter, Dr. Rana has claimed that a) Wes Bumpers was scary and being a bully to the previous owner, b) that “illegal Mexicans” were killing her cattle, c) that the property was not kept clean due to his own cows knocking over a trash can full of beverage cans, d) placed locks on the property and locked the Defendant/operators out and off the property, e) and made false, unverified and unprovable claims of under compensation for the rock produced and sold, and f) made generally any and all claims that he can create or make up as to why the lease should be declared invalid. 15. Further, Dr. Rana then caused to be filed a lawsuit in Haskell County Case # CJ-17-49, in which he made unverifiable claims of under compensation for rock royalties payment. Then, immediately prior to arguments on whether leave for a counterclaim would be allowed within that case, dismissed that case in its entirety, after over eight (8) years of litigation. That dismissal left the Plaintiffs herein unable to seek costs and attorney fees, as the was not a “prevailing party” to the litigation, nor was there any “appealable judgment” or “order.” (See 12 O.S. 936). That the Plaintiff had spent in excess of $55,037.70 in attorney fees alone on Defending the case that the Plaintiff dismissed without prejudice and has hence been damaged in that amount, in actual damages alone, by the Dr. Rana’s tortious interference with Plaintiff’s contractual rights. 16. In Oklahoma, one has the right to prosecute a lawful business without unlawful molestation or unjustified interference from any person, and any malicious interference with that business is an unlawful act and an actionable wrong (See Gaylord Entertainment Co. v. Thompson, 1998 OK 30, ¶49 fn. 96, 958 P.2d 128; Brock v. Thompson, 1997 OK 127, ¶32 fn. 58, 948 P.2d 279; Crystal Gas Co. v. Oklahoma Natural Gas Co., 1974 OK 34, ¶14, 529 P.2d 987. 17. The elements of a claim for malicious interference are: 1) interference with a business or contractual right; 2) malicious and wrongful interference that is neither justified, privileged, nor excusable; and 3) damage proximately sustained as a result of the interference. The element of malice, for malicious interference, is defined as an unreasonable and wrongful act done intentionally, without just cause or excuse. See Tuffy’s Inc. v. City of Oklahoma City 2009 OK. 4, 212 P.3d 1158. 18. Dr. Rana tortiously and maliciously interfered with Plaintiff’s contractual rights by attempting to get Margaret L. Cloud, Trustee of the Marvin R. Cloud and Margaret L. Cloud Revocable Living Trust to terminate the contract, and by locking the Plaintiff out of the property that they rightfully had the right to mine. 19. Due to Dr. Rana’s actions, Plaintiff has suffered actual damages, and seeks punitive damages. WHEREFORE, premises considered, Plaintiff prays for judgment against Defendant Gerald Rana in an amount in excess of $75,000.00 for punitive damages, and additionally that Plaintiff be awarded actual damages as prayed for above, together with all costs, interest, a reasonable attorney’s fee and all other relief deemed just and proper by this honorable Court. Respectfully submitted, [Signature] Stone B. Sanders, OBA #21346 CONKLIN & SANDERS, PLLC PO Box 571 Stigler, OK 74462 918.967.9008 phone [email protected] Attorney for Plaintiffs VERIFICATION STATE OF OKLAHOMA; COUNTY OF HASKELL; SS: Rick Bumpers, Trustee of The Bumpers Haskell County Trust dba B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC, of lawful age and being first duly sworn upon oath, deposes and states: that he has read the above and foregoing Petition and that the information contained therein is true and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief. DATED this 14th day of April, 2026. [Signature] Rick Bumpers, Trustee The Bumpers Haskell County Trust Dba B&S Construction & Trucking Company, LLC SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 14th day of April, 2026. My Commission Expires 03-14-2030 [?]