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 Penalties

Tags

Contractor Employee v. Contractor §102(13) Employment Relationship

File Size

169 KB

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Summary 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.

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