To obtain a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs must show that four factors weigh in their favor: (1) the likelihood of success on the merits; (2) irreparable harm to the parties seeking injunctive relief if the injunction is denied; (3) their threatened injuries outweigh the injury the opposing party will suffer under the injunction; and (4) the injunction is in the public interest. Owens v. Zumwalt , 2022 OK 14, ¶ 8, 503 P.3d 1211, 1214. Although " ‘the burden of proof is less stringent than required in proceedings on the merits,’ a right to this equitable remedy ‘must be established by clear and convincing evidence and the nature of the injury must not be nominal, theoretical or speculative.’

Nichols, 2022 OK 76, ¶ 11, 518 P.3d at 887. A mandatory injunction, rather than preserving the status quo, "is an extraordinary remedial process that commands the performance of some positive act." Owens v. Zumwalt, 2022 OK 14, ¶ 7, 503 P.3d 1211, 1214.

Nichols, 2022 OK 76, ¶ 11, 518 P.3d at 887. A mandatory injunction, rather than preserving the status quo, "is an extraordinary remedial process that commands the performance of some positive act." Owens v. Zumwalt, 2022 OK 14, ¶ 7, 503 P.3d 1211, 1214.

Jennings v. Elliott, 1939 OK 554, 97 P.2d 67, 70 ("The only office of a restraining order is to restrain the party against whom it is issued pending a hearing for a temporary injunction. It is merely an order intended to preserve the present status until a hearing may be had upon a pending application for a temporary injunction...."); 12 O.S.2011 § 1384.1 (D) ("When the motion comes on for hearing the party who obtained the temporary restraining order shall proceed with the application for a temporary injunction and, if the party does not do so, the court shall dissolve the temporary restraining order."); Owens v. Zumwalt, 2022 OK 14, ¶ 7, 503 P.3d 1211, 1214 ("A preliminary injunction preserves the status quo until there can be a final determination of the controversy.").

¶14 We review the granting of a preliminary injunction for an abuse of discretion. Owens v. Zumwalt, 2022 OK 14, ¶ 6, 503 P.3d 1211, 1214. We have found an abuse of discretion "occurs when a decision is clearly against the weight of the evidence, contrary to law, or contrary to established principles of equity." Id.

Instead, Appellants seek a mandatory injunction, which is an "extraordinary remedial process that commands the performance of some positive act." See Owens v. Zumwalt, 2022 OK 14, ¶ 8, 503 P.3d 1211, 1214. The rules regarding injunctions are more strictly construed when applied to mandatory injunctions.