In re the Claim of Amoroso
Opinion of the Court
In November 1998, claimant began working as a medical transcriptionist for Laraine T. Carmichael, Ltd. (hereinafter Carmichael), a business that provides transcription services to physicians. She performed such services at home on a part-time basis while she held a full-time position as a credit counselor. After her job as a credit counselor ended, she filed a claim for unemployment insurance benefits. In connection with her claim, she listed Carmichael as an employer who she worked for during the time period immediately preceding the filing of her claim. As a result, the Department of Labor assessed Carmichael for unemployment insurance contributions based on remuneration paid to claimant and others similarly situated. Following a hearing, an Administrative Law Judge upheld the assessment, finding the existence of an employment relationship between Carmichael and its medical transcriptionists, and also awarded claimant unemployment insurance benefits. This decision was affirmed by the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board and Carmichael now appeals.
It is well settled that the existence of an employment relationship is a factual issue for the Board to decide and its determination will be upheld if supported by substantial evidence (see Matter of Concourse Ophthalmology Assoc. [Roberts], 60 NY2d 734, 736 [1983]; Matter of Stuckelman [Blodnick, Gordon, Fletcher & Sibell, P.C.—Commissioner of Labor], 16 AD3d 882, 882 [2005]). While no one factor is determinative, the employer’s control over the results produced or the means used to achieve the results are pertinent considerations, with the latter being more important (see Matter of Ted Is Back Corp. [Roberts], 64 NY2d 725, 726 [1984]; Matter of Zelenka [Versace Profumi USA—Commissioner of Labor], 304 AD2d 927, 928 [2003]). Here, the record indicates that Carmichael hired claimant through running its own newspaper advertisement, arranged for her to obtain her transcription assignments from those clients to whom her skills were best suited, paid her compensation of $1.75 per page before necessarily collecting payment from a client, required her to sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting her from independently working for any of its clients while working for Carmichael or for a year thereafter, required
Cardona, P.J., Mercure, Peters, Lahtinen and Kane, JJ., concur. Ordered that the decisions are affirmed, without costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.