Reference no: EM133212483

Ingrid is passionate about cycling, so she dreams of competing in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. To pay for her professional equipment, training and flight ticket to Paris, she started delivering packages earlier this year using her bicycle for a new courier company called RoadRunners. She is happy because she passed all the training tests, and doing the job only involves following a short manual on collecting, transporting, and delivering the packages. Ingrid can choose to accept deliveries using the RoadRunners application on her smartphone, and she gets paid a fixed rate for delivery to the customer. There is a penalty if customers complain that delivery has taken more than the RoadRunners 15-minute guarantee; however, she thinks she looks gorgeous in her fancy RoadRunners uniform. On top of that, she is getting fitter and faster for the Olympic Games because she can work seven days a week taking as many deliveries as she wishes.

One day Ingrid rides back from delivering packages to a new neighbourhood when a dog bites her on the leg, causing her a severe laceration. She falls from the bicycle and fractures her left wrist.

Ingrid cannot work for six weeks, and her best friend -- a law student -- tells her to claim workers compensation. Mr Byrde, the owner of RoadRunners, tells Ingrid that he is afraid she is an independent contractor, not an employee.