Court Opinion

ID: 9723682
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:27:09.505499+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:50.976651
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH, dissenting: I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion and would reverse the judgment. In my opinion the contractual provision upon which the decision is apparently based is a sham and subterfuge designed to achieve the exact result here obtained. In VanWatermeulen v. Industrial Com., 343 Ill. 73, in rejecting the contention that the claimant was an independent contractor and not an employee, the court at page 77 said: “One of the principal factors which determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent worker is the matter of the right to control the manner of doing the work — not the actual exercise of that right. (Cinofsky v. Industrial Com., 290 Ill. 521.) The length of time deceased had been employed is immaterial. (Field & Co. v. Industrial Com., 285 Ill. 333.) The work may be such that very little supervision is necessary. The fact that payment is made by the piece or job is not necessarily controlling. (Franklin Coal Co. v. Industrial Com., 296 Ill. 329.)” The testimony shows that the respondent here had, and exercised ' control over the manner in which the delivery of its products was effected. Admittedly, the degree of supervision was not great once the food left the employer’s establishment but it is difficult to envision that the delivery of pizzas and french fried potatoes is so complex an activity as to require much superintendence. The testimony shows that Sauer was instructed to supply a blanket in which to wrap the boxes so as to keep them warm. Skweres sorted the orders and “made the routes up.” He, Skweres, determined in what area Sauer was to make the deliveries and arranged the “tickets” in the order in which he wanted the packages delivered. To hold that the employer controlled only the result and not the means of its achievement is to ignore the evidence and the findings of the arbitrator and the Industrial Commission.