Name
Cantara v. Dube Design & Construction
Insurance Company
Date Decided
October 20, 2016
Panel Members
Elizabeth Elwin
David Hirtle
Sue Jerome
Categories
Independent ContractorTags
Construction Employee Definition Independent Contractor §102(13)(A)
File Size
313 KB
DownloadSummary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys
In Cantara v. Dube Design & Construction, Cantara was normally an independent contractor who agreed to work briefly for Dube, another contractor who was too busy to complete his projects. Dube paid Cantara an hourly rate and kept its own Superintendent and other employees on the project. Cantara fractured his heel when staging gave way on the project, and he claimed entitlement to WC benefits as Dube’s employee.
Dube claimed Cantara was an independent contractor, but Judge Stovall applied 39-A MRSA §102(13)(A) and found that he was Dube’s employee and thus entitled to WC benefits. Judge Stovall found that Cantara met some of the criteria for an independent contractor, but that he did not have "the opportunity for profit and loss as a result of the services" he performed as required by subsection (3), thus making him Dube’s employee. Dube appealed the ruling, but the Appellate Division upheld Judge Stovall's decision, noting that Dube failed to show that Cantara met all of the criteria in §102 (13) (A).