St. Paul-Mercury Indemnity Co. v. Alexander
St. Paul-Mercury Indemnity Co. v. Alexander
Opinion of the Court
John S. Alexander filed with the State Board of Workmen’s Compensation a claim for compensation for an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, against Harris G. Self, who was not insured at the time of the accident, and against W. L. Florence Construction Company and its insurer, the St. Paul-Mercury Indemnity Company. At the first hearing before a director of the Board, neither Alexander nor Self was represented by counsel. They stipulated that Alexander was an employee of Self at the time
On motion of counsel for Self, a second hearing before a deputy director was held, to take additional testimony on the relationship between Self and Florence Construction Company. The director who held the first hearing later made an award of compensation based on the following finding: “I therefore find as a matter of fact and conclude as a matter of law that the said John S. Alexander, injured employee, within the meaning and terms of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, was an employee of the W. L. Florence Construction Company, principal contractor, as was the said Harris G. Self and all other employees of the said Harris G. Self, admitted subcontractor, and that the said W. L. Florence Construction Company, principal contractor, is liable to the said John S. Alexander for the benefits he is entitled to under the Workmen’s Compensation Act.” Accordingly, an award was made in favor of Alexander against the Florence Construction Company and the St. Paul-Mercury Indemnity Company for compensation at the rate of $20 per week for a period not to exceed 350 weeks from June 26, 1950, or until a change in condition or maximum improvement has been reached.
On appeal to the full Board, this award was affirmed, and on appeal to the Superior Court of Cobb County, the award of the full Board was affirmed. To this judgment, Florence Construction Company and its insurer except.
1. The controversy here is not over the facts, but is as to conclusions or findings based thereon. The question is, was the claimant an employee of the Florence Construction Company within the terms of the Workmen’s Compensation Act at the time of his injury? The following facts may be gathered from the evidence before the Board: Florence Construction Company had contracted with the State to construct a part of a new highway in Cobb County, and made a verbal arrangement with Self for him to furnish as many trucks and drivers as were necessary, according to the construction company’s de
Self usually drove one of his trucks, and when one of them would break down, he would take it to be repaired. The con
It was ruled in Cooper v. Dixie Construction Co., 45 Ga. App. 420 (1) (165 S. E. 152): “Where, under a contract between an employer and a contractor for the doing of certain work, the employer retains the right to direct or control the time and manner of executing the work to be done thereunder, the relation of master and servant exists, and not the relation of employer and independent contractor.” The test to be applied in determining whether the relationship of the parties is that of employer and servant, or that of employer and independent contractor, lies in whether the contract gives, or the employer assumes, the right to control the time, manner, and method of executing the work, as distinguished from the right merely to require certain definite results in conformity to the contract. Yearwood, v. Peabody, 45 Ga. App. 451 (2) (164 S. E. 901), and cases therein cited.
We think the Board was authorized to find from the evidence that Self was an employee of the Florence Construction Company, and not an independent contractor, and that the claimant, the driver of one of Self’s trucks, was also an employee of the construction company at the time he was injured. The facts that Self and the drivers of his trucks could work, under the terms of the arrangement, only when Florence Construction Company’s other employees were working and were not supposed to stop working unless a truck broke down; that the construction company had the right to direct Self to get rid of his drivers if they were unsatisfactory; that the company could require Self to put more trucks and drivers on the job or to take
There was no written contract between Self and the Florence Construction Company, and the terms of the verbal understanding are rather indefinite. However, the conduct of the parties, as disclosed by the evidence, shows that their arrangement or contract was substantially similar to the contract in Davis v. Starrett, supra. It does not appear that any definite amount
The construction company and its insurer contend that since Self admitted that he .was a subcontractor under the construction company, the claimant must first exhaust his remedies against Self, his immediate employer, as required by the Code, § 114-112. This contention is answered by the case of United States Fidelity &c. Co. v. Stapleton, 37 Ga. App. 707 (141 S. E. 506), in which this court stated the distinction between a general and a special employer, and held, independently of the above section of the Code, that the special employer was liable to the claimant without the claimant being required to first institute his claim against the general employer. Also, see Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Kinsey, 65 Ga. App. 433 (supra).
2. It follows that the superior court did not err in affirming the finding and award of the State Board of Workmen’s Compensation.
Pursuant to the act of 1945 (Ga. L. 1945, p. 232, Code (Ann. Supp.), § 24-3501), requiring that the full court consider any case in which one of the judges of a division may dissent, this case was considered and decided by the court as a whole.
Judgment affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. The claimant in this case was employed by Harris G. Self and operated one of Self’s trucks. Self paid him his wages, deducted Federal income taxes and social security payments. It is not necessary to decide what was the status of truck drivers obtained by Self who owned their own trucks and who were paid directly by Florence Construction Company, as the claimant was not such a person.
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