Opinion ID: 1911276
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: brauner's agreement with larson

Text: Brauner was having trouble completing her route in a timely manner on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because of Girl Scout and church activities, and was tired of having sole responsibility for the route. She and Larson discussed dividing the delivery schedule, and the girls' mothers worked out a schedule in which each girl would deliver half of the route on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and each would deliver the entire route on the remaining days every other week. Brauner retained the duty of collecting each month and retained the rights to the savings account that was automatically withheld out of the girls' earnings at a rate of $10 per month by the Tribune as a deposit against future indebtedness which the Tribune carriers might incur. The girls divided the profits evenly. Larson did not sign a carrier agreement with the Tribune, but on August 27, 1990, the Tribune was notified by letter of the girls' delivery arrangement. The girls delivered a flier to the Tribune and to each customer on the route explaining the new delivery arrangement. The Tribune did not object to Larson's participation in the route, and Brauner's mother testified that Kathy Brown, a district manager for the Tribune, once asked how dividing the route between the two girls was working out. On February 22, 1991, Larson was struck by an automobile while delivering Tribune newspapers on her bicycle. She sustained traumatic brain injuries and is now in a persistent vegetative state. Demand was made upon the Tribune for workers' compensation insurance coverage. The Tribune denied coverage on the basis that Larson was an independent contractor, not an employee. David Larson brought this action to recover workers' compensation benefits as Larson's father and next friend. The trial to a single judge of the Workers' Compensation Court was bifurcated in order to first determine whether Larson was an employee of the Tribune and, if the defendants were liable, her average weekly wage. The trial judge found that Larson was an employee of the Tribune and was thereby entitled to workers' compensation coverage. The final award was entered on June 28, 1993. The workers' compensation review panel reversed the award, finding as a matter of law that the trial judge erred in determining that Brauner and Larson were employees of the Tribune, and the petition was dismissed. Larson appealed to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the judgment of the review panel and reinstated the trial judge's award. The defendants have petitioned for further review of the Court of Appeals' decision.