Opinion ID: 1773893
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Residents

Text: Villafani, like other residents, had a written contract with St. Joseph but not with the Foundation. His contract obligated St. Joseph to provide him residency training to acquire additional clinical judgment and proficiency for the practice of medicine. The contract provided that Villafani would undertake [his] duties and obligations as an independent contractor engaged in graduate medical work and specialization, but St. Joseph would determine his professional duties and standards of medical practice. St. Joseph agreed to pay Villafani a stipend, to give him three weeks of vacation, and to provide him uniforms, laundry service, a parking space, life and health insurance, a room when assigned to night duty, and professional liability insurance. Although Villafani's contract with St. Joseph stated that Villafani would not be the Hospital's employee or agent, St. Joseph withheld taxes, social security, and Medicare from Villafani's paycheck and reported his wages and the amounts withheld to the IRS on a Form W-2, which is used for employees. Also, while the contract stated that Villafani would not be eligible for the Hospital's benefit programs, in fact St. Joseph allowed Villafani to participate in its employee benefits.