Riles v. Truitt Jones Const.

• Decision Date: 17 January 1995
• Citation: 648 So.2d 1296
• Parties: 94-1224 La
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 1296

648 So.2d 1296

94-1224 La. 1/17/95

Bobby Raymond RILES v. TRUITT JONES CONSTRUCTION and Louisiana Home Builders Self Insurance Fund.

No. 94-C-1224.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Jan. 17, 1995.

Michael L. Hebert, Baton Rouge, for applicant.

James A. Jordan, Baton Rouge, for respondent.

[94-1224 La. 1] WATSON, Justice. ¹

The plaintiff seeks review of the determination by the Office of Worker's Compensation Administration and the Court of Appeal that his work as a cabinet-maker is not manual labor in the context of the Louisiana Worker's Compensation Act. LSA-R.S. 23:1021 et seq.

[94-1224 La. 2] FACTS

Bobby Raymond Riles was the sole proprietor of a business known as Parish Cabinets. Mr. Riles was physically involved in the day-to-day labor of Parish Cabinets. He was primarily assisted by his wife, Cheryl, and his son, Bobby Harold Riles. The Rileses would receive orders for cabinets either from a general contractor or a home owner. They would measure the space, build the cabinets in their work shop, and then transport and install the cabinets at the designated location.

Truitt Jones Construction Company was one of the contractors for whom Parish Cabinets built cabinets. Parish Cabinets entered into a contract with Truitt Jones Construction Company to construct and install cabinets in the Steven Boudreaux home. Mr. Riles did not hire any employees to assist in the construction of the cabinets; rather, Mr. Riles, with the assistance of his wife and son, actually built the cabinets. On June 15, 1991, Mr. Riles and his son began the three day process of installing the cabinets.

On June 17, 1991, while attempting to complete the installation of the cabinets in the Boudreaux home, Mr. Riles fell from a bench as he was adjusting the doors of a cabinet. After falling to the floor, Mr. Riles noticed injuries to his left leg and foot. Because Parish Cabinets did not have worker's [94-1224 La. 3] compensation insurance, Mr. Riles attempted to claim coverage under Truitt Jones Construction Company's policy. Mr. Riles alleged that he suffered injuries to his right thumb, left foot, both legs, and his back.

On February 11, 1992, Mr. Riles filed a disputed claim for compensation against Truitt Jones Construction Company and Executive Risk Consultants, Inc. Executive Risk was the third party administrator of the Louisiana Home Builders Self Insured Fund, the self-insured fund of which Truitt-Jones was a member. Louisiana Home Builders Self Insured Fund was later substituted in Executive Risk's place as the proper defendant.

A bifurcated hearing was held to determine liability on September 22, 1992. The hearing officer held that Mr. Riles was an independent contractor. As an independent contractor, Mr. Riles was excluded from Louisiana Worker's Compensation Act coverage. Furthermore, the hearing officer classified cabinet-making as a skilled profession. Thus, Mr. Riles did not fit within the "manual labor exception" to the independent contractor exclusion. Accordingly, Mr. Riles was denied coverage under the Louisiana Worker's Compensation Act. The First Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed. Riles v. Truitt Jones Construction, 93-1149 (La.App. 1 Cir. 4/8/94), 637 So.2d 181. The court agreed that Mr. Riles was an independent contractor. The court held the term [94-1224 La. 4] "manual labor" denoted work where the physical element predominated over the mental element. The court then determined that cabinet-making was a mental craft requiring skill and precision; consequently, it did not fit within the definition of "manual labor". This Court granted certiorari to determine whether skilled labor is excluded from the definition of manual labor. Riles v. Truitt Jones Construction, 94-1224 (La. 9/23/94), 642 So.2d 1302.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

Employees in Louisiana are assured protection from work related injuries through the Louisiana Worker's Compensation Act. LSA-R.S. 23:1021 et seq. Generally, independent contractors are excluded from coverage. LSA-R.S. 23:1021(6). However, this statute creates a coverage exception for those independent contractors who spend a substantial part of their worktime in manual labor:

"Independent contractor" means any person who renders service, other than manual labor, for a specified recompense for a specified result either as a unit or as a whole, under the control of his principal as to results of his work only, and not as to the means by which such result is accomplished, and are expressly excluded from the provisions of this Chapter unless a substantial part of the worktime of an independent contractor is spent in manual labor by him in carrying out the terms of the contract, in which case the independent contractor is expressly covered by the provisions of this Chapter. LSA-R.S. 23:1021(6).

[94-1224 La. 5] The first issue for consideration is whether Mr. Riles falls within the definition of independent contractor as set forth in LSA-R.S. 23:1021(6). Hickman v. Southern Pacific Transport Company, 262 La. 102, 262 So.2d 385 (1972), defines an independent contractor as one who has contracted for:

... a specific piecework as a unit to be done according to the independent contractor's own methods, without being subject to the control and direction, in the performance of the service, of his employer ... It must also appear that a specific price for the overall undertaking is agreed upon; that its duration is for a specific time and not subject to termination or discontinuance at the will of either side without a corresponding liability for its breach. Hickman, 262 So.2d at 390-391.

Mr. Riles contracted with Truitt Jones for the manufacture and installation of the cabinets for a lump sum payment. Mr. Riles, with the assistance of his wife and son, built the cabinets in his own shop using his own tools and methods. The duration of the relationship between Mr. Riles and Truitt Jones was for the duration of the project. Mr. Riles was correctly classified as an independent contractor.

The critical issue is whether Mr. Riles is a manual laborer. If he is a manual laborer, he falls within the exception to the independent contractor exclusion and is entitled to worker's compensation coverage.

The second issue to be addressed is the definition of manual labor. This Court has never defined "manual labor". The appellate courts have addressed [94-1224 La. 6] this subject on many occasions, and they have consistently held that the test for defining "manual labor" is work where the physical element predominates over the mental element. In one of the earlier cases on this subject, Welch v. Newport Industries, 86 So.2d 704, 707 (La.App. 1 Cir.1956), Judge Tate eloquently characterized manual labor ... but the true legal meaning of the term 'manual labor' is to denote work in which the physical element predominates over the mental, see 26 Words and Phrases, Verbo Manual Labor, p. 603. For purposes of determining [workman's] compensation coverage, the distinguishing feature is whether the workingman participates physically himself, rather than--so to speak--aloofly directs in clean Sunday clothes.

In discussing the physical element, the court focused on the fact that the plaintiff actually worked with his hands in performing his job. Welch, 86 So.2d at 707. This balancing test of the physical element over the mental element has been adhered to in other circuits. See Rush v. Employers Nat. Ins. Co., 598 So.2d 603, 607-608 (La.App. 4 Cir.), writ denied, 605 So.2d 1364 (La.1992); Poirrier v. Cajun Insulation, Inc., 459 So.2d 737, 740 (La.App. 4 Cir.1984); Timberlake v. Avis Rent A Car System, 361 So.2d 934, 935 (La.App. 4 Cir.1978); Sam v. Deville Gin, 143 So.2d 838, 841 (La.App. 3 Cir.1962); Melancon v. Keller, 136 So.2d 67, 68 (La.App. 4 Cir.1962); and Rashall v. Fallin & Savage Timber Company, 127 So.2d 238, 240 (La.App. 3 Cir.1961).

[94-1224 La. 7] Here, the court of appeal cited Timberlake v. Avis Rent A Car System and stated that: "[t]he true legal meaning of the term 'manual labor' is to denote work wherein the physical element predominates over the mental." However, the court then looked to the skill and precision of cabinet-making and held that it was a craft where the mental element predominated over the physical. Thus, the court of appeal held that cabinet-making was not manual labor.

The court of appeal's use of a skill test was incorrect. This inquiry was used in determining the status of a statutory employee under LSA-R.S. 23:1061 before it was amended in 1989. A worker who was classified as an independent contractor could still receive coverage under the worker's compensation statute if he or she was determined to be a statutory employee. This determination of the employee's status involved a three-part analysis, with the central portion of the analysis being whether the contract work was specialized or non-specialized. Berry v. Holston Well Service, Inc., 488 So.2d 934, 937-938 (La.1986). In determining whether the work was specialized the courts were to "consider whether the contract work requires a degree of skill, training, experience, education and/or equipment not normally possessed by those outside the contract field." Berry, 488 So.2d at 938. If the work was determined to be specialized, then the worker was not a statutory employee; [94-1224 La. 8] and he or she would not be subject to the worker's compensation statute. However, the issue here is not whether Mr. Riles was a statutory employee.

Mr. Riles is an independent contractor, and LSA-R.S. 23:1021(6) specifically provides coverage for an independent contractor who spends a substantial amount of manual labor time in carrying out the terms of the contract. Accordingly, the court of appeal erred in not using the test for manual labor established in Louisiana's jurisprudence.

Even those jobs requiring skill fit within the definition of manual labor. A person hired to transport a car from Baton Rouge to New Orleans was...