Takeaway: In deciding whether workers are employees or independent contractors, a court must weigh a number of different factors. Ultimately, the determination is a fact-based one. If there is conflicting evidence, the determination should be left to a jury.
Drivers for a company that transported patients to and from medical appointments could be found to be either employees or independent contractors based on the evidence presented to the trial court, and therefore, the court erred in not submitting the case to the jury, a federal appeals court ruled. In the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, the lower court had ruled in favor of the DOL and awarded damages based on the DOL's calculations of back wages due to the drivers.
The company hired drivers to provide nonemergency medical transportation. The company provided equipment such as vans and electronic tablets to drivers and paid for costs such as Internet service and insurance for the vans. Customers paid the company for the transportation services, and the company distributed the entire sum paid by the customers to the drivers. Drivers were then responsible for paying the company weekly expenses such as a dispatch fee, 35 percent of the commissions generated by the drivers' weekly trips (when the drivers' weekly income exceeded $300), insurance fees, vehicle lease fees, vehicle maintenance fees, and a tablet rental fee plus added costs for any...
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