Reference no: EM132219072
BUSINESS LAW: As you continue your internship at Lambert, Bendini & Bocke, your supervising partner (Mitch Grisham) has given you an opportunity this week to participate in the firm’s monthly Pro Bono Law Clinic (a “Pro Bono Law Clinic” is a free advisory service at which members of the public arrive without appointment and ask for free legal advice on a wide range of issues. Many law firms see this as a way to give back to their community.)
The first client you see at the Law Clinic is called Bill DeVasher, who has an employment law question. Bill’s story is that he was looking for additional income, and decided to telephone a business located near to his home in Anderson called Professional Renovations Inc (PRI) and asked if they had a need for extra help. He spoke to Avery, the owner of the business, who confirmed that they were looking for additional help in their commercial renovation department. Avery asked Bill to turn up at a local theater in Anderson that PRI were renovating the following morning at 8am, where he would meet Ray, the head of PRI’s commercial renovation department. Bill arrived at the theater the following day as agreed at 8am, met Ray, and was put to work helping in the restoration of the theater.
For the next three months, Bill worked on the renovation project for three days each week (Wed-Fri), from 8am to 5pm. He was given a list of work to be completed by Ray each week. He was supplied with the necessary tools by Ray to complete the work. Ray would frequently leave the theater to attend to other jobs, and told the theater owner that Bill was “in charge” while he wasn’t there. Each week Bill received a check from PRI for the number of hours he worked.
At the end of last year, Bill was surprised to received a 1066 Tax Form from PRI (this is a form given to independent contractors indicating the amount paid to them during the year) instead of a W2 (this is a form given to employees indicating the amount paid to them during the year). Bill realized that PRI had been treating him as an independent contractor, not as employee. That same week Bill was injured on the job and could not work for 4 weeks. He was told by PRI that he could not claim workers’ compensation because he was an independent contractor, not an employee.
Was Bill an employee or an independent contractor? Validate your answer from the text and case law.