Clayco Construction v. Beserra

1998 OK CIV APP 72, 962 P.2d 671, 69 O.B.A.J. 2273, 1998 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 52, 1998 WL 347061
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 27, 1998
DocketNo. 89932
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 1998 OK CIV APP 72 (Clayco Construction v. Beserra) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clayco Construction v. Beserra, 1998 OK CIV APP 72, 962 P.2d 671, 69 O.B.A.J. 2273, 1998 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 52, 1998 WL 347061 (Okla. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CARL B. JONES, Vice Chief Judge:

¶ 1 Claimant, Beserra, was injured in an automobile accident on the way to his job roofing houses. The trial court found him to be an employee of Clayeo Construction (Employer) and that the injuries arose out of and in the course of his employment. Claimant was awarded temporary total disability. The three-judge panel affirmed. In this review proceeding, Employer contends the lower courts erred in finding Claimant to be his employee and in finding that the injuries arose out of and in the course of any such employment.

¶2 Employee status is a jurisdictional necessity for coverage under the Workers’ Compensation Act. Whether an employee/employer relationship existed at the time of Claimant’s injury requires an independent de novo review on appeal. Duncan v. Powers Imports, 1994 OK 126, 884 P.2d 854, 855; Swafford v. Sherwin Williams, 1993 OK 141, 863 P.2d 1215, 1217; Coleman v. J.C. Penny, 1993 OK 21, 848 P.2d 1158, 1160.

¶3 Employer, Clayton Douglas, testified that his corporation, Clayeo Construction, is a broker of roofing and concrete jobs. He finds the jobs, usually on new houses, then finds a subcontractor to do the actual work. Mr. Douglas is not a roofer and denies being knowledgeable about roofing. He pays his subcontractors by the number of “squares” of shingles used. The subcontractors then pay their own employees. He denied having any employees. When he hires a subeontrae[673]*673tor he requires him to have workers’ compensation insurance or a “certificate of non-coverage”.

¶ 4 Employer testified that he had never met, much less hired, the Claimant. Claimant, he said, was working for Alejandro Torres, a subcontractor employer had hired for a roofing job. Alejandro Torres also had a certificate of non-coverage. Employer further explained that his subcontractors and their employees provide their own transportation to the job sites and he did not pay mileage or otherwise provide transportation. They had been working at a particular location for three weeks when the accident happened which injured Claimant.

¶ 5 On the day of the accident, Claimant, Torres and two other men were riding to the job site with Alex McLean in McLean’s truck. Employer explained that McLean was another subcontractor, but was not working for employer at that time. Torres vehicle had broken down and Torres had apparently gotten McLean to give them rides.

¶ 6 Torres testified that he and Claimant were employees of Clayco (Employer) and that he (Torres) had no employees. He admitted that McLean was giving them a ride because his vehicle had broken down, but said that Employer had told McLean to take them to work. Alex McLean did not testify. Torres admitted that Employer paid him and then he (Torres) would pay the other members of the roofing crew.

¶ 7 There was also conflicting testimony about the equipment in the back of McLean’s truck including ladders, nail guns and an air compressor. Employer said that with the exception of one ladder, the equipment belonged to Torres. Torres said the equipment belonged to Employer. They all agree that Employer would deliver the shingles and other materials to the job site.

¶ 8 Claimant testified that he did not work for Torres, but that he worked for Employer. He also believed McLean worked for Employer and that Employer was providing the ride to work. Claimant had no tools of his own.

CLAIMANT’S EMPLOYMENT STATUS

¶ 9 In determining whether Claimant was an employee for workers’ compensation purposes, the analysis used by our Supreme Court in its most recent opinions is based on the factors identified in Page v. Hardy, 1958 OK 283, 334 P.2d 782.1 Duncan v. Powers Imports, supra, at 856; Swafford v. Sherwin Williams, supra, at 1217; Coleman v. J.C. Penney, supra, at 1160. These eases each point out that no one factor is controlling and that the relationship must be based on the set of facts peculiar to the ease.

¶ 10 Using the Page factors, the evidence weighs in favor of a finding that Claimant was not an employee of Employer. It appears much more likely that Claimant was an employee of Torres who was a subcontractor to Employer. Although evidence was in dispute, of particular importance are the facts that there was no written or verbal employment agreement; Employer did not in any way supervise or control the details of the work; Torres worked by the job and when a roofing job was completed he was free to provide his services to others; and, Employer did not pay Claimant, he paid Torres who paid other crew members and the payment was by the job rather than hourly, weekly or [674]*674yearly. The finding below that Claimant was an employee of Clayco is reversed.

¶ 11 With that resolved, Employer is still not off the hook. As an independent contractor to the builder, he would still be secondarily liable for compensable injuries to an employee of his subcontractor where that employee’s work was “necessary and integral” to the work of Employer. 85 O.S.Supp. 1993 § 11(B); W.P. Atkinson Enterprises, Inc. v. District Court of Oklahoma County, 1973 OK 97, 516 P.2d 541; Murphy v. Chickasha Mobile Homes, Inc., 1980 OK 75, 611 P.2d 243; Bradley v. Clark, 1990 OK 73, 804 P.2d 425. The roofing work of employee was not specialized, vis-a-vis the Employer’s business. That work can well be considered part of Employer’s business which Employer was actively engaged in at the time of the accident/injury. This de novo review finds the “necessary and integral” test was satisfied for purposes of establishing Employer’s secondary liability.

¶ 12 Next, Employer contends that under 85 O.S. § 11(B), if he has relied in good faith on proof of Certification of Non-Coverage from his subcontractor, then he has no liability for the injuries of the subcontractor’s employee.2 The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, Division 4 has ruled that the “Certificate of Non-Coverage Exception” to the secondary liability of the principal employer or independent contractor is unconstitutional. Sloan v. Ringwald, 1996 OK CIV APP 162, 940 P.2d 234.

¶ 13 Specifically, it was determined that this exception was an unconstitutional delegation to the immediate employer of the legislature’s police power to determine an inclusion or exclusion of coverage. The Certificate of Non-Coverage statutory scheme allows an employer to deprive his employee of a right to seek compensation from an intermediate or principal employer. Sloan instructs that the legislature may, by the exercise of its police power, provide for the secondary liability of intermediate and principal employers, but it may not delegate to an employer the right to determine whether his own employees may avail themselves of that right. Sloan, at 236.

¶ 14 We hold that the Certification of Non-Coverage is no bar to Claimant’s right to seek compensation against Employer, Clayco. While recognizing Sloan, supra, this Court notes, and for the purposes of deciding this cause, holds as follows: inasmuch as the accident occurred on July 12,1996, the applicable statute is 85 O.S.1995 § 11(B). That statute, as well as the prior and later amendments to it, does not

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Bluebook (online)
1998 OK CIV APP 72, 962 P.2d 671, 69 O.B.A.J. 2273, 1998 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 52, 1998 WL 347061, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clayco-construction-v-beserra-oklacivapp-1998.