M. F. A. Mutual Insurance v. United States

314 F. Supp. 590, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10984
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedJuly 9, 1970
DocketNo. 1380
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 314 F. Supp. 590 (M. F. A. Mutual Insurance v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
M. F. A. Mutual Insurance v. United States, 314 F. Supp. 590, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10984 (W.D. Mo. 1970).

Opinion

JOHN W. OLIVER, District Judge.

I

This is an action for the recovery of employment taxes paid under the Social Security Act on account of compensation paid by plaintiff insurance company during the calendar years 1962-1965 to its “financed agents.” The basic question presented is whether those financed agents were, under the factual circumstances and the applicable statutes and regulations, employees or independent contractors.

We find and conclude that such financed agents were employees under the findings of fact stated in part II, the conclusions of law stated in part III, and for the reasons stated in our memorandum opinion in part IV. The additional findings and conclusions made in that memorandum opinion supplement those made in parts II and III and shall be so considered pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

II

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Court finds the facts as contained in the Stipulation of Facts.

2. The Agent’s Agreement (Ct. Exh. 1) and the Agent Financing Agreement (Ct. Exh. 2) signed by Paul Lamberson was typical of like agreements signed by other financed agents of the plaintiff.

3. The amount of the monthly advance made by plaintiff to its financed agents was fixed by plaintiff from a budget form submitted by each financed agent after consultation between him and his district sales manager before the Agent Financing Agreement was executed. The maximum monthly advance to any financed agent during the years 1962 to 1965, inclusive, was $600 and the minimum $100.

4. The term specified in the Agent Financing Agreement was for one year. The Agent Agreement, however, could be terminated at any time upon written notice from either the agent or the plaintiff (Ct. Exh. 1, para. 12). The Agent Financing Agreement was automatically terminated upon the termination of the Agent Agreement (Ct. Exh. 2, para. 6).

5. The financing of an agent was a temporary program intended to tide him over until he could build up his own commissions. The purpose of the arrangement was to increase the number of individuals who might eventually become regular agents of plaintiff by providing such persons with economic security which they otherwise did not possess.

6. The Agent Financing Agreement compensated the agent in exchange for his full-time services at a fixed rate per month (Ct. Exh. 2, para. 2) in lieu of commissions on the insurance policies he wrote and serviced (Ct. Exh. 2, para. 5(a)). Those payments were not dependent upon the product of the financed agent’s work but were made in order to obtain his full time and effort.

7. Plaintiff had part-time agents and full-time agents operating solely under the Agent’s Agreement. Such agents, whose status is not involved in this litigation, are sometimes referred to herein as “regular” agents to distinguish them from a “financed” agent. The Agent Financing Agreement was offered.to a financed agent in order to provide him with a guaranteed income to cover his living expenses for an anticipated period of one year during which he agreed to work full-time for plaintiff.

[592]*5928. Plaintiff’s practice was to terminate the Agent’s Agreement and the Agent Financing Agreement of a financed agent only if such financed agent whs not successful in soliciting and selling insurance policies, and there did not seem to be any probability of future improvement. Termination of a financed agent could be recommended by a district sales manager or a state sales manager. Final action in regard to termination was made by plaintiff’s Home Office in Columbia, Missouri.

9. In 1962 plaintiff had 35 financed agents out of 1,850 regular agents; in 1963, 77 out of 1,963; in 1964, 95 out of 2,112; and in 1965,106 out of 1,800.

10. The blanks in Section 4 of the Agent Financing Agreement were filled by percentages based on a mathematical expectation of the production of each agent and on past experience in similar territory of the performance of other agents in similar circumstances. These percentages were goals which financed agents were urged but not required to attain. A financed agent's contract was not terminated if he failed to meet the contract percentage goals, although plaintiff had the right in such case to terminate the advances. As a matter of practice, a financed agent who was not successful in selling insurance would be terminated if plaintiff did not believe that there was any probability of future improvement. Plaintiff's authority to terminate a financed agent was not limited to any set of reasons (Ct. Exh. 1, para. 12 and Ct. Exh. 2, para. 6).

11. A financed agent was not entitled and in fact did not receive any earned commissions, even if they exceeded the advances, until the termination of his Agent Financing Agreement. If there was a balance of advances owing to plaintiff at that time, and the agent remained under contract with plaintiff, such balance would be repaid to plaintiff on a set monthly schedule agreed on between the agent and plaintiff and placed in Section 5(b) of the Agent Financing Agreement before its execution. If the agent did not remain under contract with plaintiff, such balance of advances would be repaid only out of termination payments provided in Section 13 of the Agent’s Agreement.

12. Every financed agent was supposed to prepare and give to his district sales manager a daily activities report. Such reports were to be turned into his district sales manager on a weekly basis. The reports stated the names of prospects contacted, what types of insurance were offered to the prospect, and the number of new leads obtained as well as whether a new policy was written. The reports also asked for information on claims, policy changes and other services rendered (P. Exh. 3).

13. Plaintiff’s district sales managers were required to summarize the information from the Daily Activity Reports of financed agents on a form entitled “Supervisor Monthly Report,” and to rate such agent’s performance with the others in the district and to comment on his progress. The district sales manager also met at least monthly with the state sales manager to keep him posted on the progress of a particular financed agent. The monthly reports were required to be forwarded to the Home Office, where they were periodically, but not regularly, reviewed.

14. The training sessions, both those held in the field and at the Home Office, which all agents were requested to attend, were held for the purpose of educating agents in the product to be sold and in selling techniques, and the Rules and Training Manuals furnished to all agents, whether financed or regular, were for a like purpose.

15. The financed agents were situated throughout eleven Midwestern states. The insurance business produced by a financed agent of the plaintiff or turned over to him for servicing — including the right to renewals and expirations — was the sole property of the plaintiff (Ct. Exh. 1, para. 9). The production of insurance by the agent was a necessary and integral part of the plaintiff’s business. A financed agent was required, [593]*593under the Agent Financing Agreement, to devote his full time and effort to soliciting, writing, securing, and servicing insurance policies for the plaintiff (Ct. Exh. 2, para. 1) exclusively (Ct. Exh. 1, para. 10). By the nature of the business, the time and place of his solicitations were dictated by the convenience of the prospect.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
314 F. Supp. 590, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/m-f-a-mutual-insurance-v-united-states-mowd-1970.