Opinion ID: 853431
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Length of Employment

Text: The record shows that Magness had only been working at the construction site three months when he sustained injury. GKN points out that Magness was working out of a Teamster's Union Hall and was hired for different temporary jobs. In April 1992, Magness was hired to work on the I-465/I-65 highway construction project of which GKN was the general contractor. Magness' three months of employment was also the same length of time of his employment with Starnes Trucking. The only work that Magness did for Starnes Trucking was in connection with the GKN project. He never worked for Starnes Trucking before the accident and has not worked for Starnes Trucking since then. According to GKN, the foregoing facts point to a conclusion that Magness was its employee. We first observe that the longer the length of employment, the more indicative it is of an employer/employee relationship. Restatement (Second) of Agency § 220(2) cmt. j. The length of employment here was so abbreviated that it sheds little light one way or the other as to whether Magness was an employee of GKN. More importantly, GKN has not shown that there was any discussion between the parties concerning the length of time that Magness would work for GKN. See, e.g., Fox, 398 N.E.2d at 712 (finding an employment relationship was indicated because Contract [the `borrowing' employer] determined the length of time Fox would be required to work at the plant. . . .). We conclude that the length of employment in this case cannot be said to weigh in favor of finding an employment relationship between Magness and GKN.