Vega, Jose v. C. A. SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC

2025 TN WC 33
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedJune 5, 2025
Docket2023-05-7310
StatusPublished

This text of 2025 TN WC 33 (Vega, Jose v. C. A. SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vega, Jose v. C. A. SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC, 2025 TN WC 33 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2025).

Opinion

FILED Jun 05, 2025 08:05 AM(CT) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS IN THE COURT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS AT MURFREESBORO

JOSE VEGA, ) Docket No. 2023-05-7310 Employee, ) v. ) ) State File No. 860455-2023 C. A. SMITH CONSTRUCTION, ) INC., ) Employer. ) Judge Dale Tipps

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER GRANTING BENEFITS

The Court held an Expedited Hearing on May 29, 2025, on whether Mr. Vega is entitled to medical and temporary disability benefits. Mr. Vega asserted he was Smith Construction’s employee; Smith Construction primarily contended he was an independent contractor, as well as asserting other defenses. For the reasons below, the Court holds that Mr. Vega is likely to prove at a hearing that he was an employee and is entitled to the requested benefits.

History of Claim

Mr. Vega worked for Smith Construction for several months before he suffered an injury on July 13, 2023. He was installing siding when the ladder began to slide. Mr. Vega jumped from the falling ladder and seriously injured his left ankle.

Smith Construction presented evidence to show that Mr. Vega was intoxicated. Joe Sullivan, who described himself as a subcontractor for Smith, testified that the accident occurred shortly after a break, when he saw Mr. Vega drinking “what looked like a beer” in his truck. He also said Mr. Vega smelled of alcohol when he helped him back to his truck after the accident, and he saw a 40 oz. Bud Light bottle in the truck. Another Smith Construction worker, Curtis Newton, also said he saw Mr. Vega in his car during the break and smelled alcohol. He later saw Mr. Vega stumbling as he walked back to the job.

Mr. Vega denied drinking the morning of the accident. His coworker, Arturo Contreras, also helped him to his truck and said he smelled no alcohol. Mr. Vega’s wife

1 agreed he did not smell of alcohol when he came home from the jobsite.

Smith Construction also suggested that Mr. Vega was working in an unsafe manner by standing on the next-highest rung of the ladder. Mr. Sullivan added that he should not have jumped from the ladder but should have “ridden it down” to avoid injury.

The primary dispute during the hearing was Mr. Vega’s employment status. He testified that Joe Sullivan controlled the work, telling him where to go, what to do, and when to do it. There was no written contract, but Mr. Vega was hired to work for $19.00 per hour and was paid weekly. He was not free to hire helpers. Mr. Sullivan provided the ladders and tools, and he scheduled the work hours.

Mr. Vega admitted signing a W-9 form but said Mr. Sullivan filled it out, including falsifying a social security number.

Mr. Contreras described a similar status, saying that he was paid hourly and that someone else provided the tools. He said Mr. Sullivan worked as a supervisor for Smith Construction and that Mr. Sullivan and the owner, Cody Smith, scheduled his hours. Mr. Contreras testified that Mr. Sullivan eventually fired him after a disagreement.

Cody Smith disagreed and insisted Mr. Vega was an independent contractor. He said he offered Mr. Vega the option of being an employee, but Mr. Vega chose to be a contractor. He did not remember how Mr. Vega was paid. Similarly, he did not know who gave Mr. Vega the W-9 form, as his wife handles the paperwork for his business, but said it would not have been Mr. Sullivan, who was just another of his subcontractors. He admitted he had no workers’ compensation insurance.

Mr. Smith did not know who furnished the ladder but said it did not belong to his company. He also denied furnishing tools. Mr. Smith did not set the working hours but explained that the development where the houses were being built limited the hours when tradespeople were allowed to work. He said that both he and Mr. Vega had the right to terminate the relationship.

Mr. Sullivan testified that he and Mr. Vega were both subcontractors. All the materials were furnished by Smith Construction. Mr. Vega was supposed to bring his own tools, but they often used tools found on site. However, these did not belong to Smith Construction. He also said that everyone on the site tried to take their breaks at the same time to keep from disrupting each other’s work. Mr. Sullivan denied being involved in hiring decisions or filling out the W-9. Instead, Mr. Vega asked him what to do with the form, and Mr. Sullivan just told him how to fill it out.

Regarding Mr. Vega’s injuries, Dr. Jeffrey Loveland testified by deposition that he suffered a left calcaneal fracture and underwent a surgical reconstruction. As a result, Mr.

2 Vega was unable to work until May 6, 2024. Presented with copies of his medical bills and those of St. Thomas Highland, Dr. Loveland said the charges were reasonable and necessary.

At the hearing, the parties agreed that Mr. Vega missed 298 days of work because of the accident. They also agreed to a $450.81 compensation rate and medical expenses of $55,445.45.

Mr. Vega requested payment of his medical bills and temporary disability benefits. Smith Construction contended that Mr. Vega is not entitled to benefits because he was an independent contractor. In the alternative, it argued that his claim is barred for intoxication and violation of safety rules.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

Mr. Vega must prove he is likely to prevail at a hearing on the merits. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-239(d)(1) (2024); McCord v. Advantage Human Resourcing, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 6, at *7-8, 9 (Mar. 27, 2015).

Because the parties agree that Mr. Vega was injured at the jobsite, the threshold issue is whether he was Smith Construction’s employee or an independent contractor at the time. Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-102(12)(D)(i) directs courts to consider the following factors when determining whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor:

(a) The right to control the conduct of the work; (b) The right of termination; (c) The method of payment; (d) The freedom to select and hire helpers; (e) The furnishing of tools and equipment; (f) Self-scheduling of working hours; and (g) The freedom to offer services to other entities[.]

The right to control the conduct of the work is the most significant factor when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Further, once it is established that an employment relationship exists, “the burden is on the employer to prove the worker was an independent contractor rather than an employee.” Thompson v. Concrete Solutions, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 3, at *14, 15 (Feb. 10, 2015).

Regarding factors (a) and (e), both Mr. Vega and Mr. Contreras said that Mr. Sullivan functioned as a sort of supervisor for Smith, telling them where, when, and how to do the job. Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Smith contended that the hours were effectively dictated by the housing development’s rules on when workers could get through the gates.

3 The Court is unpersuaded by this argument. Although access to the jobsite was limited by the gate hours, Smith Construction presented no proof that, within those limitations, Mr. Vega was free to work whenever he wanted. Further, the evidence suggested that Smith Construction’s workers all took their breaks at the same time. While Mr. Sullivan explained that this was a matter of courtesy, it seems more likely that the break times were mandated by a representative of Smith Construction. Finally, Mr. Sullivan said he told Mr. Vega on several occasions that it was unsafe to use the uppermost rungs of the ladder. This suggests a level of supervision or control greater than that of one subcontractor to another.

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Bluebook (online)
2025 TN WC 33, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vega-jose-v-c-a-smith-construction-inc-tennworkcompcl-2025.