Garron, Inc. v. Jacoby Transportation System

52 Pa. D. & C.2d 563, 1971 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 250
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJune 1, 1971
StatusPublished

This text of 52 Pa. D. & C.2d 563 (Garron, Inc. v. Jacoby Transportation System) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garron, Inc. v. Jacoby Transportation System, 52 Pa. D. & C.2d 563, 1971 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 250 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1971).

Opinion

WIEAND, J.,

— On April 17, 1967, an unattached truck cab driven on U. S. Route 22, in Whitehall Township, by defendant, Maurice J. Croizier, left its lane of travel, climbed partially over the medial barrier, and collided with a tractor-trailer unit moving in the opposite direction. Garrón, Inc., owner of the damaged tractor, and R. & F. Truck Rental, Inc., owner of the trailer, instituted this action in trespass to recover damages caused to their property as a result of the collision. Following trial by jury, verdicts were returned in favor of plaintiffs and against Croizier and his alleged employer, Jacoby Transportation System, Inc. Jacoby filed motions for judgment n.o.v. and a new trial, and those motions, following argument, are before the court en banc for disposition. The only issue argued by Jacoby is the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the jury’s finding that Croizier was its employe at the time of the accident.

The evidence demonstrated that Croizier was the owner of the tractor involved in the accident. On March 13, 1967, approximately a month before the accident, he had leased it to Jacoby pursuant to the terms of a written lease. Those terms provided, inter alia, that gas, oil and maintenance costs would be paid by Croizier, but otherwise the Lessor “shall surrender full control, possession, and management of said equipment to the LESSEE.” The leased equipment, it was agreed “is in the exclusive possession, control, and use of the authorized carrier LESSEE and that the LESSEE assumes full responsibility in respect to the equipment it is operating, to the public, the shippers, and the INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION.”

Under this arrangement, Jacoby regularly instructed Croizier concerning the place where he should [565]*565pick up a load and the destination to which the load was to be delivered. While carrying loads assigned to him by Jacoby, Croizier was required to comply with certain rules and regulations adopted by Jacoby. His tractor unit was identified by an attached device which proclaimed “Jacoby Transportation System.” For the use of his equipment and his services as driver, Croizier was paid a percentage of the gross revenue derived by Jacoby from the haul. From the compensation paid to Croizier no deductions were made for income tax withholding or Social Security contributions, but at the end of the year a statement of his total earnings was given to him. He had no regular hours but worked as was necessary to transport the cargo assigned to him. Croizier worked exclusively for Jacoby and drove for no other carrier. Although Jacoby’s dispatcher testified that there would have been no objection to his driving for another carrier, the lease agreement clearly gave Jacoby exclusive possession of Croizier’s unit. The relationship between Croizier and Jacoby, it was conceded, was terminable at the will of the carrier.

Croizier and his witnesses testifiéd that on the Monday of the accident, he had delivered a shipment to Philadelphia, returning to Jacoby’s terminal building and yard about noon. He was then instructed to deliver a load of steel to Sinking Springs, Pa. This load had been picked up on the previous Saturday, but it had been left standing at Croizier’s home in Lynnville, Pa., so that he could comply with the dispatcher’s instructions to make the Philadelphia delivery on Monday morning. He was driving home to pick up the trailer load of steel when the accident occurred. This testimony was contradicted by Jacoby’s dispatcher, who testified that Croizier was finished for the day and was driving the tractor on his own [566]*566business at the time of the accident. The jury, however, accepted Croizier’s version, and Jacoby does not question the sufficiency of the evidence to support such a finding.

It is revealing that, shortly after Croizier’s accident, it was Jacoby who dispatched another driver to deliver the load of steel to Sinking Springs.

Jacoby’s contention is that the evidence was insufficient to establish the existence of an employer-employe relationship. On the contrary, he argues, it demonstrates that Croizier was an independent contractor.

“Speaking generally,” the court said in George v. Nemeth, 426 Pa. 551, at pages 553 and 554, “‘the hallmark of an employee-employer relationship is that the employer not only controls the result of the work but has the right to direct the manner in which the work shall be accomplished; the hallmark of an independent contractee-contractor relationship is that the person engaged in the work has the exclusive control of the manner of performing it, being responsible only for the result’ . . .”

In Stepp v. Renn, 184 Pa. Superior Ct. 634, at pages 637 and 638, the principles for determining the nature of the relationship were reviewed as follows. “The precise nature of the relationship of the parties, under the evidence, presents a question of fact which it is the exclusive function of the jury to determine, after proper instructions by the court as to the matters of fact to be considered, except where the facts . . . are not in dispute and the evidence is direct and certain, presenting no question of credibility and having no sufficient ground for inconsistent inferences of fact: Joseph v. United Workers Association, 343 Pa. 636, 23 A. 2d 470 (1942); Burns et al. v. Elliott-Lewis Electrical Co., Inc., 118 Pa. Superior Ct. 243, 179 A. 47 (1935).

[567]*567“The courts have not formulated a hard and fast definition for the determination of whether any given relationship is one of independent contractor or that of employer-employe. They have, however, set forth indicia of such relationship to be used as guides in making such a determination, some of which are: Control of manner work is to be done; responsibility for result only; terms of agreement between the parties; the nature of the work or occupation; skill required for performance; whether one employed is engaged in a distinct occupation or business; which party supplies the tools; whether payment is by the time or by the job; whether work is a part of regular business of the employer, and also the right of employer to terminate the employment at any time: Feller v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 363 Pa. 483, 70 A. 2d 299 (1950); Johnson v. Angretti et al., 364 Pa. 602, 73 A. 2d 666 (1950). These indicia are not to be considered as circumstantial in nature and whether some or all of them exist in any given situation is not absolutely controlling as to the outcome, each case must be determined on its own facts.” See also Feller v. New Amsterdam Casualty Company, 363 Pa. 483, 486-487.

“The difficulty arises,” suggests Justice Roberts in George v. Nemeth, supra, at page 554, “in the application of these general principles to the facts of a given case. Since each case must be decided on its own facts, the existence of all or some of the factors discussed ... is not necessarily controlling.”

In the instant case, the inferences to be drawn from the evidence are conflicting. Although some factors, such as the manner in which Croizier was paid, as well as his duty to maintain the equipment, would seem at first blush to support Jacoby’s position, these factors are not controlling. Other indicia tend to establish the existence of an employer-employe [568]*568relationship. Jacoby was in the business of providing truck transportation for shippers. In order to obtain drivers and equipment, it entered agreements by the terms of which the equipment was leased to Jacoby.

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Related

Fullerton v. Motor Express, Inc.
100 A.2d 73 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1953)
Feller v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co.
363 Pa. 483 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1950)
Stepp v. Renn
135 A.2d 794 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1957)
Lindenmuth v. Steffy
98 A.2d 242 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1953)
George v. Nemeth
233 A.2d 231 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1967)
JOHNSON v. ANGRETTI
73 A.2d 666 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1950)
Feller v. New Amsterdam Cas. Co.
70 A.2d 299 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1949)
Joseph v. United Workers Assn.
23 A.2d 470 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1941)
Sefton v. Valley Dairy Co.
28 A.2d 313 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1942)
Burns v. Elliott-Lewis Electrical Co.
179 A. 47 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1934)
Capozi v. Hearst Publishing Co.
92 A.2d 177 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1952)

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Bluebook (online)
52 Pa. D. & C.2d 563, 1971 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garron-inc-v-jacoby-transportation-system-pactcompl-1971.