Gillum v. Industrial Commission

48 N.E.2d 234, 141 Ohio St. 373, 141 Ohio St. (N.S.) 373, 25 Ohio Op. 531, 1943 Ohio LEXIS 427
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 21, 1943
Docket29334
StatusPublished
Cited by91 cases

This text of 48 N.E.2d 234 (Gillum v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gillum v. Industrial Commission, 48 N.E.2d 234, 141 Ohio St. 373, 141 Ohio St. (N.S.) 373, 25 Ohio Op. 531, 1943 Ohio LEXIS 427 (Ohio 1943).

Opinion

Turner, J.

The correctness of the judgment below depends upon whether appellee’s decedent, Andrew Gillum, was in the service of J. O. Wamsley or was an independent contractor.

The usual test applied to determine whether such an arrangement as we iiave here under consideration creates the relationship of servant-or of independent contractor is that if the employer reserves the right to control the manner or means of doing the work, the relationship is that of master and servant," while if the manner or means is left to the operative who is responsible to the employer for the result only, an independent contractor relationship exists.

As stated in 21 Ohio Jurisprudence, 628, Section 6:

“Inasmuch as it is necessary to construe the contract in the light of all the surrounding circumstances, it is impossible to state a hard and fast rule as to what terms do or do not reserve the control in the master so as to make the employee a servant.”

Under the heading of Indicia of Relationship, 27 American Jurisprudence, 485, Section 5, is to be found the following:

“Although it is apparent, from an examination of cases involving the independent contractor relationship, that there is no absolute rule for determining whether one is an independent contractor or an employee, and that each case must be determined on its *375 own facts, nevertheless, there are many well-recognized and fairly typical indicia of the status of an independent contractor, even though the presence of one or more of such indicia in a case is not necessarily conclusive. It has been held that the test of what constitutes independent service lies in the control exercised, the decisive question being as to one who has the right to direct what shall be done, and when and how it shall be done. It has also been held that commonly recognized tests of the independent contractor relationship, although not necessarily concurrent or each in itself controlling, are the existence of a contract for the performance by a person of a certain piece or kind of work at a fixed price, the independent nature of his business or his distinct calling, his employment of assistants with the right to supervise their activities, his obligation to furnish necessary tools, supplies, and materials, his right to control the progress of the work except as to final results, the time for which the workman is employed, the method of payment, whether by time or by job, and whether the work is pa*rt of the regular business of the employer.”

In 31 Corpus Juris, 473, Section 75, it is said: “It is impossible to lay down a rule by which the status, of men working and contracting together can be definitely defined in all cases as employees or independent contractors. Bach case must depend on its own facts, and ordinarily no one feature of the relation is determinative, but all must be considered together. Ordinarily the question is one of fact. The principal consideration in determining the question is the right to control the manner of doing the work.” '

Appellee’s brief contains the following statement:

“We have rummaged through the authorities' — and the best definition we -have been able to find is contained in a note in 76 American State Reports, p. 382. We quote it, vis.; ‘Independent contractor. One who, exer *376 cising an independent employment, contracts to do a piece of work according to Ms own methods and without being subject to his employer’s control, except as-to the result of the work.’ ”

Testing the relationship by appellee’s definitionr Gillum was exercising an independent employment. The record discloses the following testimony of Wamsley:

“Q. Will you state just what was the conversation,, as near as you can recall it? A. Well, he had finished hauling logs on another contract and he come — I had some logs at Sandy Springs up above where he lived and I was hauling those logs in my own truck and he-came to me and wanted a job of hauling.”

The only other witness on the subject was the eighteen-year-old son of Gillum, who testified:

“Q. Were you there when the conversation concerning this work took place? A. Yes.
“Q. Now, will you tell, in your own words, just what was said? A. Well, we came down there about nine o’elo’ck one morning, we had finished one job and—
“Q. For whom? A. For — well, on a different jobr and asked him if he had any work we could do with our truck and he said he had some logs to haul but figured on hauling them himself with his own truck and so he asked father what he would do it for per thousand and he told him and he told him then to go> ahead and haul some, and that is the job he was hauling on when he got hurt.”

There also appears in the record the following testimony of Wamsley:

‘ ‘ Q. When you first had your conversation with Mr. Gillum outside of the fact that you knew that he previously had always finished a job that he started, was there any definite statement about the — to the fact that he would haul them all? A. No. He was to haul all the logs but there was no definite time set to 'haul them. * * *
*377 “Q. Well, you were talking about a contract you had with him. A. My contract with him was that he was to haul a certain amount of logs or. what logs I had at Sandy Springs, because I didn’t know what amount I had until I measured them, and I gave him the job of hauling all logs here at Sandy Springs. However, there was no definite time for completion of this contract and I told Mr. Gillum at the time that he could haul these logs and if he got anything else to do in the meantime he should go do that and come back and finish the logs.”

In discussing definitions it is said in 27 American Jurisprudence, 483, Section 2: “Examination of the definitions substantially adopted by most of. the courts makes it evident that one of the basic elements of the independent contractor relationship is the fact that the contractor has an independent business or occupation. ”

However, the independent business or occupation of the operative, while of prime importance, will not always be determinative. The right of the employer to control the manner or means of doing the work will still create the relation of master and servant. Counsel for appellee contend that Wamsley had the right to control by reason of the claimed fact that he designated where in his yard the logs should be unloaded. We agree with the Court of Appeals that: “The plaintiff’s claim that this fixing of the destination amounted to a control of the work is untenable.” Appellee’s further claim of control was the right of Wamsley to designate certain types of logs to be brought in at certain times. It was upon this claim of control that the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. The question then is whether such control is of the manner and means or of the result only.

The record discloses the following questions to and answers by Mr. Wamsley:

“Q.

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Bluebook (online)
48 N.E.2d 234, 141 Ohio St. 373, 141 Ohio St. (N.S.) 373, 25 Ohio Op. 531, 1943 Ohio LEXIS 427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gillum-v-industrial-commission-ohio-1943.