Opinion ID: 1577849
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 206

Heading: Employment, including independent contractor and exceptions:

Text: whether (name) was an employee of (defendant) and was acting within the scope of [his] [her] employment at the time and place of the incident in this case. An employee is a person who is hired by (defendant) to act on behalf of (defendant), and whose actions are controlled by (defendant) or are subject to (defendant's) right of control. An employer is responsible for the negligence of an employee if the negligence occurs while the employee is performing services which [he] [she] was employed to perform or while the employee is acting at least in part because of a desire to serve [his] [her] employer and is doing something that is reasonably incidental to [his] [her] employment or something the doing of which was reasonably foreseeable and reasonably to be expected of persons similarly employed. [But a person is not responsible for the negligence of an independent contractor or of the agents or employees of an independent contractor. An independent contractor is a [person] [business] engaged by another to perform specific work according to [his] [her] [its] own methods and whose methods of performing the work are not controlled by the person engaging [him] [her] [it] and are not subject to that person's right of control. Whether a [person] [business] is an independent contractor is to be determined on the basis of all of the circumstances of the parties' dealings with each other and not on the labels used by them. A person is, however, responsible for the negligence of an independent contractor if [the independent contractor is an [actual] [or] [apparent] agent of that person], [the employer did not exercise due care in the [selection] [or] [retention] of the independent contractor] [or] [the employer undertook to perform the services resulting in the injury to (claimant).]  The bracketed language contained in the last two paragraphs is only to be used when there is a claim of independent contractor status. See Carlisle v. Carnival Corp., 864 So.2d 1 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003); Villazon v. Prudential Health Care Plan, Inc., 843 So.2d 842 (Fla.2003). If an exception to independent contractor status is claimed, then the applicable portions of the following provisions should also be given. [ (Name) is an agent if (defendant) authorized [him] [her] to act on (defendant's) behalf.] [ (Name) is an apparent agent if, by words or conduct, (defendant) caused or allowed (claimant) to believe that (name) was an agent of and had authority to act for (defendant).] A person is responsible for the negligence of [his] [her] independent contractor if, at the time and place of the incident, the independent contractor was an [agent] [or] [apparent agent] of the employer and was acting within the scope of his or her [apparent] authority.  If the court determines that issues on both actual agency and apparent agency should be submitted to the jury, both bracketed sections should be used with appropriate transitional language. [In [hiring] [or] [retaining] another to perform services, the employer must exercise due care to assure that the person is competent to perform the services. A person is responsible for the negligence of [his] [her] independent contractor if, in [hiring] [or] [retaining] the independent contractor, the employer failed to exercise due care.] Insinga v. LaBella, 543 So.2d 209 (Fla. 1989) ; F.S. 766.110. [When a [person] [facility] undertakes to perform services, [he] [she] [it] cannot transfer the obligation to perform those services to an independent contractor and remains responsible for the negligence of [his] [her] independent contractor.] As to nondelegable duties for treatment, see Wax v. Tenet Health System Hospitals, Inc., 955 So.2d 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006); Pope v. Winter Park Healthcare Group, 939 So.2d 185 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006); Shands Teaching Hospital Clinic, Inc. v. Juliana, 863 So.2d 343 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003); Irving v. Doctors Hospital of Lake Worth, Inc., 415 So.2d 55 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). There is, however, no civil liability under F.S. 458.320(2)(b) to ensure that staff physicians are financially responsible. Horowitz v. Plantation General Hospital Limited Partnership, 959 So.2d 176 (Fla. 2007).