Opinion ID: 1201862
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: right to control details of work

Text: Maguire Tank's conclusion that it had the right to exercise detailed control of the work being done is not justified by the facts when they are viewed in the light most favorable to Lundstrom. See Newland, 295 N.W.2d at 618. As a preliminary matter, the object of this inquiry is to discover whether Maguire Tank had the right to control the details of Lundstrom's work at the time of the injury. Logically, if the goal of the test is to determine Lundstrom's employment status, then the test must focus on who could control his actions, not on whether Maguire Tank had the right to control the work done by anyone else. See, e.g., Danek, 252 N.W.2d at 258-59. As discussed above, Maguire Tank did not actually exercise detailed control over Lundstrom. The only evidence that Maguire Tank possessed an unexercised right to control the details of Lundstrom's work is that: (1) Lundstrom recognized that Smith was in charge of the job site and that he, Lundstrom, was there to provide a service to Maguire Tank; (2) Lundstrom acknowledged that he would have moved his truck if Smith had asked him to; and (3) Lundstrom may have asked permission to get some water from Maguire Tank's water cooler immediately before the injury occurred. Viewed in the light most favorable to Lundstrom, these facts do not appear to go beyond the general deference that any subcontractor would give a general contractor. Lundstrom's job duties were to set up, maintain, pack up, and move the crane, as well as to check the rigging on lifts and serve as the eyes and ears for the crane operator. There is no indication that Smith ever spoke to Lundstrom, much less that anyone from Maguire Tank ever actually directed Lundstrom on how to perform any of his duties. Nor is there any proffered or readily apparent reason why Maguire Tank would give, or believe that it had the right to give, such directions in light of the expertise that Truck Crane's employees have in transporting and maintaining cranes. Accordingly, there is no basis on the present record to find as a matter of law that Maguire Tank had the right to control the details of Lundstrom's work, and thus summary judgment should not have been entered to that effect. The grant of summary judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings.