Opinion ID: 1843765
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: investment

Text: Somewhat interrelated with the opportunity for profit or loss factor is the investment factor. Although the trial court made no explicit finding regarding this factor, it did find that Hageman used his own vehicle and tools. However, the fact that a worker uses or provides his own tools is not itself indicative of independent contractor status. Rather, [t]he [worker's] relative investment must be compared with the investment of [the putative employer] in order to determine the degree of economic dependence. Brock v. Mr. W Fireworks, Inc., 814 F.2d at 1052. See, e.g., Rutherford Food Corp. v. McComb, 331 U.S. 722, 725, 67 S.Ct. 1473, 1474, 91 L.Ed. 1772 (1947), (holding that meat boners who owned their own boning knives, hooks, and leather belts were employees); McLaughlin v. Seafood, Inc., 867 F.2d at 875 (holding that backers, pickers, and peelers that supplied their own hairnets, aprons, gloves, and seafood knives were employees); Silent Woman, Ltd. v. Donovan, 585 F.Supp. at 451 (holding that seamstresses who work at home and supplied their own sewing machines were employees); Real v. Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Inc., 603 F.2d 748, 752 (9th Cir.1979) (holding that migrant workers who supplied their own shovels, clippers, handcarts, and hoes were employees); and Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Lauritzen, 835 F.2d at 1537 (holding that pickle pickers that provided their own gloves were employees). In Robicheaux v. Radcliff Material, Inc., 697 F.2d 662, 666 (5th Cir.1983), the Court of Appeals stressed the trial court's analysis in this manner: Although each of the welders had invested his own money in purchasing a welding machine, the district court concluded that a relatively minor portion of the compensation was paid to the employees based upon their furnishing their equipment and that the major part of the compensation was paid for the services of these... employees. In this case, the trial court found that Midwest purchased the supplies necessary for the general maintenance and repair, and even replaced Hageman's tools when needed. Also, the trial court did not find, and the record does not indicate, that any of Hageman's tools or his vehicle were in any way significant or unique. There is nothing in the trial court's findings nor in the record which would indicate that any portion of the compensation ... paid to [Hageman] [was] based upon [his] furnishing [tools].... Robicheaux v. Radcliff Material, Inc., 697 F.2d at 666.