Opinion ID: 708053
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sharkey's Motions for Summary Judgment

Text: 25 Sharkey claims that the district court erred not only in granting appellees' motions for summary judgment, but also in denying his own. He argues that he was entitled to summary judgment because, as a matter of law, he was an employee for the three-year consulting period. In Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Darden, 503 U.S. 318, 112 S.Ct. 1344, 117 L.Ed.2d 581 (1992), the Supreme Court adopted a common-law test incorporating traditional agency law principles for determining who qualifies as an employee under ERISA. The Court adopted the test articulated in Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730, 109 S.Ct. 2166, 104 L.Ed.2d 811 (1989). 26 In determining whether a hired party is an employee under the general common law of agency, we consider the hiring party's right to control the manner and means by which the product is accomplished. Among the other factors relevant to this inquiry are the skill required; the source of the instrumentalities and tools; the location of the work; the duration of the relationship between the parties; whether the hiring party has the right to assign additional projects to the hired party; the extent of the hired party's discretion over when and how long to work; the method of payment; the hired party's role in hiring and paying assistants; whether the work is part of the regular business of the hiring party; whether the hiring party is in business; the provision of employee benefits; and the tax treatment of the hired party. 27 Darden, 503 U.S. at 323-24, 112 S.Ct. at 1348 (footnotes omitted) (quoting Reid, 490 U.S. at 751-52, 109 S.Ct. at 2178-79). 28 In determining that Sharkey was not an employee during the disputed period and denying his motions for summary judgment, the district court relied almost exclusively on the consulting agreement between Dan-Mar Enterprises and UEL. 867 F.Supp. at 258-59. However, the employment status of an individual for the purposes of ERISA is not determined solely by the label used in the contract between the parties. Daughtrey v. Honeywell, Inc., 3 F.3d 1488, 1492 (11th Cir.1993); see also In re Shulman Transp. Enters., Inc., 744 F.2d 293, 295 (2d Cir.1984) (under agency principles, employee does not become an independent contractor simply because a contract describes him as such). Moreover, the corporate form under which Sharkey did business is not dispositive under the common-law agency test. Cf. Frankel v. Bally Inc., 987 F.2d 86, 91 (2d Cir.1993). Employment status depends on all of the factual incidents of the relationship. Darden, 503 U.S. at 324, 112 S.Ct. at 1348. 29 Furthermore, as already indicated, Sharkey contends that the part-time arrangement provided for in the consulting agreement changed almost immediately into full-time employment in which he held the same position and performed the same duties as he had as an employee prior to his retirement. Appellees dispute exactly when this change occurred. Appellees also dispute Sharkey's assertion that he worked exclusively for UEL in 1988-91. The factual issues thus raised could not properly be determined on a motion for summary judgment--either by Sharkey or by appellees. We therefore conclude that the district court did not err in denying Sharkey's motions for summary judgment.