3P Delivery, Inc. v. Employment Department

296 P.3d 526, 254 Or. App. 192, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1515
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 19, 2012
Docket09AB0090, 10AB0666; A141256
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 296 P.3d 526 (3P Delivery, Inc. v. Employment Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
3P Delivery, Inc. v. Employment Department, 296 P.3d 526, 254 Or. App. 192, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1515 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, J.

3P Delivery, Inc. (3PD) seeks review of an order of the Employment Appeals Board (EAB) concluding that claimant Brian Newrones is not disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits under ORS 657.176. 3PD contends that claimant is not for benefits because claimant’s services were excluded from employment under ORS 657.047, the “for-hire” carrier exemption. We affirm EAB’s order.

The facts are not disputed and we rely on EAB’s findings of fact and the record. 3PD is a third-party delivery service; in Oregon, 3PD only provides delivery services for The Home Depot. In 2005, claimant applied for work with 3PD and was hired after completing a written job application that inquired into claimant’s driving history for the past three years. In 2006,3PD informed all delivery drivers that it would only use drivers who operated as either a corporation or limited liability company (LLC). As required, claimant formed an LLC and continued to deliver for 3PD. In late 2007, The Home Depot tightened the background checks for drivers who delivered for The Home Depot. In January 2008, 3PD notified its drivers that they were required to pass the additional background checks. Claimant did not satisfy the additional background requirements, and 3PD terminated claimant’s contract, effective January 31, 2008.

Claimant filed a claim for unemployment benefits. An administrative decision by the Employment Department determined that claimant was not disqualified from receiving benefits. 3PD requested a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ affirmed the decision granting benefits. 3PD requested review by EAB, which affirmed the ALJ, and then 3PD filed this petition for judicial review.

Meanwhile, in September 2008, the Employment Department issued 3PD a Notice of Tax Assessment for 2006 and 2007, alleging that 3PD owed over $15,000 in taxes. 3PD requested a hearing, and that hearing occurred in January 2010. For 3PD, the primary issue at the hearing was whether the delivery drivers were exempt from the [194]*194definition of employment under ORS 657.0471 for purposes of payroll tax assessments. The ALJ affirmed the notice, and 3PD filed a petition for judicial review. Today, this court affirms the notice of tax assessment and, in doing so, rejects 3PD’s argument that ORS 657.047 exempts from the definition of employment its delivery drivers, under the exemption for drivers who lease their equipment to a for-hire carrier. 3P Delivery, Inc. v. Employment Dept. Tax Section, 254 Or App 180, 295 P3d 83 (2012).

On review, 3PD does not challenge EAB’s determination that claimant was not disqualified from receiving benefits under ORS 657.176 because he was not discharged for misconduct and was not an independent contractor. Rather, 3PD contends in its first assignment of error that claimant was not for benefits because he was not engaged in subject employment. In 3PD’s view, claimant’s services were exempt from employment under ORS 657.047. It contends that EAB erred in not resolving that question and in concluding instead that, assuming that the exemption of ORS 657.047 applied, it would not be dispositive of claimant’s claim.

In its second assignment of error, 3PD asserts that EAB erred in concluding that 3PD had proper notice of the Employment Department’s initial determination under ORS 657.266(1), as well as an opportunity to fully litigate the applicability of the exemption.

Finally, 3PD contends in its third assignment that EAB erred in determining that 3PD was precluded in this case from litigating the ORS 657.047 exemption issue because that issue had previously been resolved against 3PD in an order of the department in 3P Delivery, Inc. v. Employment Dept. Tax Section.

We first address 3PD’s third assignment of error. The state concedes that 3PD is correct that EAB erred [195]*195in determining that the department’s order in the tax assessment case precluded 3PD from contending in this benefit case that services provided by claimant during the relevant period were exempt from employment under ORS 657.047. At the time of the hearing in this case, the department’s order in the tax case had not yet become final, and it is still not final. Accordingly, it was not preclusive of 3PD’s contentions in this case. We move on to consider 3PD’s remaining assignments.

Claimant’s employment with 3PD began in August 2005 and terminated effective January 31, 2008. Thus, it both preceded and extended beyond the audit period at issue in the tax case. In its first assignment, 3PD asserts that EAB erred in determining that the question of the exemption under ORS 657.047 is not dispositive of claimant’s entitlement to unemployment benefits. EAB reasoned that, even if a worker is a not a subject worker or the worker’s services fall within an exemption from employment for purposes of unemployment taxes, the worker still may not be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits under ORS 657.176. We recently rejected that interpretation of ORS 657.047 in May Trucking Co. v. Employment Dept., 251 Or App 555, 284 P3d 553 (2012), and held that a determination that a worker’s services are excluded from the definition of employment under ORS 657.047 is dispositive of the worker’s for unemployment benefits. Thus, 3PD is technically correct that EAB erred by not considering in this proceeding 3PD’s contention that claimant’s services were exempt under ORS 657.047.

As mentioned above, we decide the petition for judicial review in the tax assessment case today, 3P Delivery, Inc. v. Employment Dept. Tax Section,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
296 P.3d 526, 254 Or. App. 192, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/3p-delivery-inc-v-employment-department-orctapp-2012.