Roberson v. Industrial Com'n, 102723.

Citation866 N.E.2d 191,225 Ill.2d 159
Decision Date22 March 2007
Docket NumberNo. 102723.,102723.
PartiesDonald D. ROBERSON, Appellee, v. The INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION (P.I. & I. MOTOR EXPRESS, INC., Appellant).
CourtSupreme Court of Illinois
866 N.E.2d 191
225 Ill.2d 159
Donald D. ROBERSON, Appellee,
v.
The INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION (P.I. & I. MOTOR EXPRESS, INC., Appellant).
No. 102723.
Supreme Court of Illinois.
March 22, 2007.

[866 N.E.2d 192]

L. David Green, Michael S. Prater, John J. Lee, Elizabeth A. Bradley, of Knapp, Ohl & Green, Edwardsville, for appellant.

[866 N.E.2d 193]

Michael P. Glisson, of Williamson, Webster, Falb & Glisson, Alton, for appellee.

Justice FITZGERALD delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion:


Donald Roberson filed a claim for benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act (see 820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 2004)) after he was injured while delivering a load of steel coils for P.I. & I. Motor Express, Inc. (P.I. & I.). An arbitrator denied this claim, and the Illinois Industrial Commission1 reversed the arbitrator's decision, finding an employment relationship between Roberson and P.I. & I., as well as a causal relationship between Roberson's injury and his work. The circuit court of Montgomery County reversed the Commission's decision, and the appellate court reversed the trial court's decision (No. 5-05-0279WC (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23)), concluding that the Commission's decision was not against the manifest weight of the evidence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Roberson worked for P.I. & I. as an employee truck driver from March to May 2000, when he bought his own truck. On May 15, 2000, Roberson signed an "INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR CONTRACT" with P.I. & I. Under the contract, Roberson would receive 78% of the gross revenue received by P.I. & I. for each load in exchange for the services of a driver and the equipment listed in Appendix A to the contract—namely, his truck. Appendix A provided:

"P.I. & I. MOTOR EXPRESS, INC. hereby receipts for the equipment hereinafter described, this receipt being executed pursuant to [federal regulations] and to the extent as therein specified and directed P.I. & I. MOTOR EXPRESS, INC. shall during the duration of this receipt have the exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment and to the extent required by the Motor Carrier Act, P.I. & I. MOTOR EXPRESS, INC. shall be deemed to have assumed complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment in the transportation of the commodities; provided however, that this receipt shall not affect the legal relations between P.I. & I. MOTOR EXPRESS, INC. and the Contractor, his agents or employees as set forth in this Independent Contractor Contract to which this receipt is an appendix * * *."

Roberson was responsible for all costs and expenses associated with operating his truck, including fuel, tolls, license plates, and taxes. The contract permitted Roberson to have employees, and he was required to have worker's compensation insurance coverage for himself and any employees. The contract contained an option to obtain such coverage through P.I. & I. Roberson also was required to have liability insurance coverage. The contract provided that Roberson must maintain and operate the equipment in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, notify P.I. & I. of any accidents, and cooperate with P.I. & I. in investigating any accidents.

At its discretion, P.I. & I. could advance monies to Roberson or pay for items which were his responsibility; such monies would then be deducted from Roberson's weekly settlements. Upon "reasonable request," P.I. & I. could agree to "trip lease," or broker, Roberson's truck to another motor carrier, in accordance with federal regulations

866 N.E.2d 194

and on three conditions: (1) the other motor carrier appeared on P.I. & I.'s approved list; (2) Roberson obtained a release number from P.I. & I. before the trip; and (3) P.I. & I. had no freight available to load. If these conditions were not met, P.I. & I. would not agree to trip lease the truck.

The contract specifically provided that it was "not intended to create an employee/employer relationship" between Roberson and P.I. & I., and further that P.I. & I. "shall have no direction or control" of Roberson "except in the results to be obtained." The parties agreed that the contract should be "interpreted in accordance with this expressed intent." Either party could terminate the contract at any time upon written notice.

Appendix C to the contract was an "EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES TO INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR CONTRACT" under which Roberson leased a trailer from P.I. & I. Roberson was required to pay as rent 10% of the revenue received by P.I. & I. for each load. He was further required to operate the trailer in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and to notify P.I. & I. of any accidents. Roberson was responsible for all expenses associated with the trailer, except for "normal scheduled preventative maintenance," and he agreed to follow P.I. & I.'s maintenance schedules. This contract provided that any service and repair of the trailer must be performed according to P.I. & I.'s instructions, by P.I. & I. or at its designated facility.

On January 5, 2001, Roberson left home for P.I. & I.'s Granite City terminal to pick up a load. He then drove to Bethlehem Steel in northwest Indiana, unloaded the vehicle, and reloaded it with two large steel coils. The coils were covered with a tarp and secured with chains and ratchet binders. Instead of delivering these coils to Red Bud, Illinois, Roberson returned home because he was experiencing mechanical problems with his truck. Roberson advised P.I. & I. of the delay, and P.I. & I. instructed him to deliver the load as soon as possible. On January 11, he left home to deliver the load. In Red Bud, Roberson removed the tarp and chains from the steel coils, and began to unfasten the ratchet binders. As he was pushing on a ratchet, it gave way. Roberson tumbled forward, fell into the side of one of the coils, and landed on his back. Roberson felt pain, but continued to work, believing that it would go away. Though he intended to sleep in his truck at P.I. & I.'s terminal and pick up a new load the next day, Roberson's pain increased, and he again returned home. The next morning, he visited an emergency room, complaining of pain in his lower back, shoulder, and neck, and numbness in his right leg.

Emergency room records indicate that Roberson injured his back while unloading his truck. According to the initial nurse evaluation form, as Roberson was removing a load with a ratchet binder, the binder "let go," and Roberson twisted his body. He felt a "pull and pop" in his lower back, and pain went up his back to his neck. As time passed, the pain got worse. Roberson told the nurse, "It feels like I had the crap beat out of me." His back was tender, and he could not lay down on it. An X ray of his back revealed no abnormalities, and the initial diagnosis of the emergency room doctor was "acute back and neck strain with spasm." Roberson was given pain medication, including Vicodin and Flexeril, advised to see his own physician, and instructed to stay off work until January 15.

On January 12, Roberson visited Dr. Assa Mayersdorf, a neurologist with whom he had made an appointment before the accident to discuss nonconvulsive seizure

866 N.E.2d 195

episodes. Dr. Mayersdorf's office notes indicated that "[i]n the last two days," Roberson had taken Vicodin and Flexeril "because of low back pain which happened when he slept [sic] in the truck."

On January 15, Roberson visited his physician, Dr. Jose Villegas. In his evidence deposition, Dr. Villegas stated that Roberson claimed he injured his shoulder and back four days earlier while ratcheting a load of steel. Roberson had stiffness and generalized pain in the lower back area, as well as numbness in his right leg. Dr. Villegas' initial diagnosis was lumbosacral spine and cervical neck strain. Dr. Villegas again examined Roberson on January 29, 2001. Roberson stated that his pain had continued and had become more localized. He had trouble sleeping and experienced tingling and numbness in his legs. Dr. Villegas ordered physical therapy and a CT scan. According to Dr. Villegas, the CT scan showed that Roberson had a herniated disc in his lower back, which was consistent with his symptoms. Dr. Villegas reexamined Roberson on February 9 and 28, 2001. On February 9, Roberson showed improvement, and on February 28, he had no back pain and was ready to resume work. Dr. Villegas opined that there was a causal relationship between Roberson's accident at work and his back pain: "I haven't seen Mr. Roberson for any prior history of back problems. * * * And because of the symptoms and physical findings and the CT scan, it seems to correlate well to his back injury."

Roberson filed a worker's compensation claim on February 8, 2001. At the arbitration hearing, Roberson testified regarding his relationship with P.I. & I. According to Roberson, he would telephone P.I. & I. each morning to see if any loads were available. Before Roberson began hauling a load, P.I. & I. required him to perform pretrip inspections, and to keep and turn in a logbook bearing P.I. & I.'s name and logo. Roberson asserted that on several occasions P.I. & I. had given him a "hot load" to deliver and return back as quickly as he could.

Roberson acknowledged that he could choose his routes and where to obtain fuel or repairs. P.I. & I. provided him a debit card that he could use at any truck stop to buy fuel, pay for repairs, or obtain cash advances, and these expenses were later deducted from his weekly settlements. According to Roberson, P.I. & I. helped him secure "bobtail and dead head" liability insurance coverage, and the premiums were also deducted from his settlements. Additionally, before the accident P.I. & I. deducted workers' compensation insurance coverage premiums from his settlements. Roberson stated that P.I. & I. stopped withholding taxes from his settlements after he entered the independent contractor contract....

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