Court Opinion

ID: 9734137
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:26:14.863608+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:45.928555
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE SIMON, dissenting: I disagree with the majority’s conclusion of law and its summary treatment of most of the facts in this case. I would remand the cause to the Industrial Commission for entry of an award. The employment contract in this case expressly provided that the tavern owner had complete supervision, direction and control over the services of the claimant and the right to control the manner, means and details of the performance of services by the claimant. It is anomalous that the majority, in determining the effect of such a contract, should rely so heavily on a case involving a contract which stated the opposite. That case is Bauer v. Industrial Com. (1972), 51 Ill. 2d 169, in which the contract provided that the alleged employer was denied the right to exercise any control over the claimant. Perhaps the tavern owner did not attempt to exercise control over the claimant and the other musicians, but under the terms of the contract he could have had he wanted to. The majority contends the claimant was paid on a job basis and not on a time basis. It is true that the musicians were paid a flat sum for each performance, but this does not mean that the contract did not state how many hours the musicians would perform each night, or assign specific hours as work hours. Contrary to the majority’s conclusion, I believe that the claimant’s occupation is closely related to that of the tavern owner. The respondent operated a tavern in which entertainment was provided to attract customers. That was the tavern owner’s business, and the claimant participated in that business by being part of the entertainment. The fact that withholding taxes were not deducted by the tavern owner from the claimant’s compensation should not be found determinative. See Penny Cab Co. v. Industrial Com. (1975), 60 Ill. 2d 217, holding that this fact, while relevant, is of secondary importance where a municipal ordinance imposed an employer-employee relationship on the parties as if by contract. In McClure Engineering Associates, Inc. v. Reuben H. Donnelley Corp. (1983), 95 Ill. 2d 68, also decided this day, we herald the “widespread policy of permitting competent parties to contractually allocate business risks as they see fit.” (95 Ill. 2d 68, 72.) The majority in this case correctly observes that “the right to control the work is the single most important factor in determining the parties’ relationship.” (95 Ill. 2d at 81.) When the parties enter into a contract stating that it is the tavern owner who has the right to control the work of the musicians, I do not understand why we should not respect the contractual relationship the parties agreed to and declare that the parties are governed by it. The decision as to whether the relationship between the parties should be governed by their contract is a matter of law rather than one of fact, and for that reason we are not bound by the Industrial Commission’s conclusion. Nor is it necessary for us in reversing the Commission to declare that the Commission’s decision was against the manifest weight of the evidence. I would reverse the circuit court and the Industrial Commission on the basis of the clear terms of the contract, which the conduct of the parties did not in any way contradict.