Case Title: BURBIC CONTRACTING CO., INC. v. Willis

Citation: 386 So. 2d 419

Docket Number: 

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1980-07-25T00:00:00Z

Document:
386 So. 2d 419 (1980)
BURBIC CONTRACTING COMPANY, INC.
v.
Charles H. WILLIS and James W. Wells.
78-874.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
July 25, 1980.
*420 James W. May of Odom, May & De Buys, Birmingham, for appellant.
Richard S. Manley, Demopolis, for appellee Charles H. Willis.
Horace N. Lynn of Piel & Lynn, Montgomery, for appellee James W. Wells.
SHORES, Justice.
Charles H. Willis filed suit against Burbic Contracting Company to recover damages for work and labor performed by Willis for the benefit of Burbic Contracting Company. Burbic then filed its answer denying any indebtedness to the plaintiff and, at the same time, filed a third-party complaint against James W. Wells claiming from him any amounts found to be due by it to plaintiff Willis.
Wells, the third-party defendant, filed an answer denying every allegation made by Burbic and denying liability on the ground that he was an employee of Burbic Contracting Company as a foreman with the authority to hire and fire, contract for labor and materials, and handle all matters necessary to complete a sewer contract awarded to Burbic by the City of Demopolis.
The case was tried before a judge who, after hearing all the evidence, entered a judgment including findings of fact and conclusions of law as follows:
The only issue presented for review in this Court is: Was there evidence from which the trial court could conclude that James Wells was employed by Burbic Contracting Company as a foreman and job superintendent with the authority to hire, contract for labor and materials, and to oversee other matters necessary to complete the contract involved? Stated differently, did the trial court err, under the evidence, in not finding that James Wells was acting as an independent contractor?
We affirm.
There is evidence in the record that shows that Mr. Wells was carried on the company payroll of Burbic and that he performed as a foreman on the job site and that, as foreman, he had certain authority, including running the project in Demopolis.
There was some evidence to the effect that Mr. Wells was carried on the company payroll for purposes of avoiding bureaucratic red tape, but there was also abundant evidence to support a conclusion that he was an employee of Burbic.
This Court has, for many years, followed the rule stated in Birmingham Post Company v. Sturgeon, 227 Ala. 162, 149 So. 74 (1933):
Birmingham Post Company v. Sturgeon, 227 Ala. at 165, 149 So.  at 76. Hodges and Company v. Albrecht, 288 Ala. 281, 259 So. 2d 829 (1972).
As has so often been stated where a trial court decides a factual issue on conflicting evidence, this Court will not reverse unless there is no evidence to support the factual determination so made. This is not such a case.
AFFIRMED.
TORBERT, C. J., and MADDOX, JONES and BEATTY, JJ., concur.