Opinion ID: 151564
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Relative Investments

Text: The fourth factor the Carrell court examined was the relative investments of the worker and the alleged employer. Carrell, 998 F.2d at 333. The court in Carrell recognized the overall investment by the alleged employer, but it did not focus on it, as Thibault does in his brief. Instead, Carrell compares the amount the alleged employer and employee each contribute to the specific job the employee undertakes. Id. For example, the welders supplied their own trucks, welding machines mounted on the trucks, and other specialized welding tools. Id. The welders also assumed the costs of operating and maintaining the trucks and tools. Id. The welders provided their own lodging and own meals. Id. They often bought their own assistants, who appear to have been unskilled or semi-unskilled laborers. Id. at 333 n. 3. The alleged employer in Carrell provided general liability and worker's compensation insurance. Id. at 333. It provided the blades for the grinders that smoothed the surface of a pipe before it was welded. Id. at 333 & n. 2. Like the welders in Carrell, Thibault provided his own bucket truck, cable splicer, pump, ventilator, ladder, climbing belt, harness, hard hat, safety vest and other miscellaneous tools (such as wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers and other items one would usually find in a toolbox). In fact, the record contains a list of over 100 different tools splicers were expected to have for the job. Thibault had his own motor home, which he brought to Louisiana to live in. He stocked it with enough water and food to last him at least six weeks. He drove two days to get to New Orleans. We also recognize[] the overall investment by the defendants. Carrell, 998 F.2d at 333. Unlike Carrell, however, we could not find, nor has Thibault pointed to, any evidence in the record of paying for general liability insurance. BellSouth did rent property in the area and built a shed and trailer as a base of operations. BellSouth also provided the materials used in the splicing: connectors, bonding straps, ground rods, terminal blocks, pedestals, cable, and drop wire, for example. The materials that BellSouth provided were either incorporated into their network or brought back to Kenner Yard at the end of the day. Parker, on the other hand, did not provide any materials, meals or other services. Instead, Parker's involvement in splicing seems limited to keeping track of the men and the hours. There was some evidence to suggest that Parker paid for worker's compensation insurance.