Opinion ID: 1679652
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Respondent's Status as an Employee

Text: Section 287.020 defines an employee as any person in the service of any employer... under any contract of hire ... or under any appointment. Respondent contends that he was an employee under appointment. In Missouri, an uncompensated worker is an employee by appointment if he is in the service of an employer and that employer exercises control, or has the right of control, over the worker. Fielder v. Production Credit Association, 429 S.W.2d 307 (Mo.App.1968); Lawson v. Lawson, 415 S.W.2d 313 (Mo.App.1967). It is necessary, therefore, to determine whether there was sufficient competent evidence before the Commission to establish whether the church had the right of control or did control the work of respondent. The Commission's findings with regard to whether respondent was an employee were as follows: A careful review of the record reveals that employee Stegeman was appointed by St. Francis Xavier Parish to do work on a building being built by and for the Parish through authority delegated to its Property Committee consisting of members Frank Twehous and Leonard Sanning. On Tr. 46, employee Stegeman testified that Frank and Leonard negotiated most of the help and that he was asked by Frank. At Tr. 72, Frank Twehous, property committee chairman, said that he asked Stegeman to work on Saturday, July 19, 1975, and continuing on page 73 stated that the property committee had the sole power to hire individuals for the church and that they (the property committee) had talked to the church council and the church council had authorized the committee to hire who they wanted. It thus becomes obvious that Stegeman was an employee by appointment and was performing a service beneficial to the church in that it was enjoying the economic advantage of not having to pay wages for labor. We hold that once we find the claimant is an employee by appointment, it is apparent that the entity making the appointment and receiving the services necessarily stands in the correlative relation of employer. (See Lawson v. Lawson, 415 S.W.2d 313). Furthermore the claimant proved by the overwhelming weight of the evidence that the church had the right of control. In that respect we are heavily influenced by the testimony of Frank Twehous and Leonard Sanning, who comprised the membership of the property committee. The above findings, challenged by appellants as to their sufficiency, while by no means a model, set out the actual grounds of decision and make possible an intelligent judicial review. Enriquez v. Chemical Sealing Corp., 409 S.W.2d 686, 690 (Mo.1966). The Commission need not state all the evidentiary facts upon which it made its ultimate findings. Peterson v. Central Pattern Co., 562 S.W.2d 153, 156 (Mo.App. 1978). In examining the testimony of Twehous and Sanning before the referee, we determine that the evidence referred to in the Commission's findings was sufficient to support the Commission's conclusion. We will summarize some of the more significant testimony: Twehous testified that the foreman was hired to direct the workers and to show them what to do. Twehous stated that he personally had the authority to run people off the job as a safety factor and that Verslues had actually asked people to leave the job or to change positions. Twehous testified that he had the authority to tell the workers what to do on the job and did give them orders. Sanning likewise testified that he, Verslues, and Twehous had the right to control a volunteer worker, to tell him what to do and how to do it. When pressed what would happen if the volunteer refused, Sanning replied that that was his privilege. He then testified that if a man came to work there, the understanding was that he (the volunteer) would be under somebody. Somewhat on this point, Twehous testified that if a volunteer was not capable of doing the job he was asked to do, [Y]ou can't demand it. You can't tell them to do anything except go home if they don't want to help. With regard to this latter testimony, we agree with the dissenting judge's assessment: It is completely understandable that a more genteel, subdued, tactful and less imperative approach was indicated in the case of directions or admonitions leveled at fellow church member volunteers or appointed employees on this construction job than would be indulged in the case of arm's length paid employees recruited from the common labor market, but that would not change the ultimate basic fact of control or right to control in order to properly accomplish the construction. We therefore hold that the Commission's findings of fact were supported by substantial and competent evidence and affirm that portion of its award which permits respondent to recover workmen's compensation because he was an employee at the time of his accident.