Reversing itself, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal held that a public utility’s obligation to maintain its equipment and facilities was the sort of activity that could be subcontracted to another firm and that when it had properly done so,...
Reversing, in relevant part, an appellate panel’s determination that an injured roofer was an independent contractor, and not an employee of a roofing contractor for whom he was providing services, a South Carolina appellate court held that while indeed some factors...
A New York appellate court held there was conflicting evidence as to whether the plaintiff’s employer had the right to exercise control over a construction worker who was performing sheetrock work at the employer’s premises. Accordingly, the trial court did not...
Noting that control of the work and the manner in which the work is accomplished is the key factor in the analysis of whether a particular worker is an employee or an employment relationship, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania agreed with a determination that...
A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by a federal district court sitting in California that had issued an order temporarily enjoining enforcement of the controversial Assembly Bill 5, which had codified the judge-made “ABC...
An insurer’s cancellation of coverage related to a workers’ compensation insurance policy was effective in spite of the fact that, prior to the injury in dispute, the carrier’s agent had sent the general contractor a certification that insurance...
The Supreme Court of California held its earlier decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court , (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903, 232 Cal. Rptr. 3d 1, 416 P.3d 1 , should be applied retroactively. That somewhat controversial decision set forth a three-part "ABC"...
Stressing there was a distinction between control over the workplace, on the one hand, and control of the worker, on the other, the Court of Appeals of Maryland reversed a decision of lower appellate court that had concluded Tyson Farms was a co-employer of worker...
A Michigan appellate court held that a part-time bartender, who was "paid under the table," and who sustained a serious ankle injury when she tripped while working, was an independent contractor--not an employee of the bar. Accordingly, she could maintain...
In a split decision, the Supreme Court of Connecticut held that maintaining and repairing municipality buildings was within the city of Bridgeport's "trade or business," and accordingly, a worker employed by an uninsured roofing subcontractor could...
Based on the record evidence, an Idaho skydiving instructor may have been an employee, not an independent contractor, held the state's Supreme Court. The Court said the matter should be remanded for a proper determination since the magistrate court committed...
Where the plaintiff and her husband contracted to drive a semi-truck for a trucking company, were both subject to termination by the company, and were not free to drive for other trucking companies, there was sufficient evidence of control to characterize them...
A Washington appellate court recently affirmed an assessment of almost $1 million in workers’ compensation premiums, penalties, and interest against a Seattle delivery service company that had argued its drivers were independent contractors and not employees...
Building on an earlier decision in which the Ohio Supreme Court had determined that the Ohio contractor’s self-insurance plan [see Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 4123.35(O)] provided immunity not only to the self-insuring general contractor, but also to enrolled subcontractors...
A New York appellate court recently ruled that a state trial court was beyond its powers when it determined that an injured worker was an independent contractor and not an employee. Such a determination was for the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board;...