In a decision that further clarifies Massachusetts law with regard to employee classification, the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently held that home inspectors working on behalf of an inspectional services company were independent contractors (and not employees) under the ABC test for determining employment status, and, therefore, ineligible for unemployment benefits. The decision, Tiger Home Inspection, Inc. v. Director of the Department of Unemployment Assistance, overturned a lower court’s ruling affirming the final status determination of the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) on the matter.
Background
In 2008, Tiger, a home inspection company, discontinued using the services of an inspector who subsequently filed for unemployment benefits. Tiger opposed his application for unemployment benefits, asserting that the inspector was an independent contractor, not an employee. The DUA disagreed and held that the inspector (and all others “similarly employed”) were employees under the ABC test. The district court affirmed the DUA’s decision and Tiger appealed.
In the context of unemployment benefits in Massachusetts, “all services performed by an individual for an ‘employing unit’ are presumed to be employment unless the ‘ABC test’ is satisfied. … The three-part conjunctive [ABC] test requires the entity seeking to rebut the presumption [of employment] to prove that ‘(a) such individual has been and will continue to be free from control and direction in...
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