Name
WCB Abuse Investigation Unit v. Price
Insurance Company
Date Decided
July 14, 2014
Panel Members
Timothy Collier
Elizabeth Elwin
Tom Pelletier
Categories
Independent Contractor PenaltiesTags
Contractor Employee v. Contractor §102(13) Employment Relationship
File Size
169 KB
DownloadSummary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys
Upon petition of the Abuse Investigation Unit, Hearing Officer Dunn imposed a $400 fine on Donald Price d/b/a Blind Faith Tattoos for failing to secure workers’ compensation coverage for tattoo artists and a body piercer who rented space in his tattoo parlor. The panel reversed, ruling that the AIU had failed to prove that the renting artists were employees. The hearing officer had applied the factors listed in §102(13) and determined that the artists were not independent contractors and concluded that therefore they must be employees. The panel ruled that an either/or proposition does not apply, and that a third possibility exists: that the artists were neither employees nor independent contractors. In this case, the tattoo artists paid Price 30% of their receipts to rent space in his parlor, but they provided their own tools and materials, they were free to hire assistants, and Price had no right to control their work. There was no employment relationship proven.