Sellards v. B. & W. Coal Co.
| Decision Date | 08 June 1962 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
| Parties | Pauline McKnight SELLARDS, Appellant, v. B. & W. COAL COMPANY et al., Appellees. |
Clyde Hobson, Hobson & Stephens, Pikeville, for appellant.
Charles Tackett, Scott Reed (Wallace, Turner & Reed), Lexington, Ky., for appellees.
Ben Jeff Sellards was killed on September 24, 1958, while operating a bulldozer on property of the appellees, B. & W. Coal Company, et al., a partnership, and his widow, Pauline McKnight Sellards, on behalf of herself and three children, was denied an award by the Workmen's Compensation Board on the ground that the deceased was an independent contractor and not an employee of the B. W. Coal Company at the time he was killed. The Circuit Court affirmed the conclusion of the Board, and the question presented on this appeal is whether there was substantial evidence to support the conclusion reached.
The evidence discloses that one Clifford Wilson owned a bulldozer which the deceased agreed to operate for him, the two men to split the profits equally between them. Clifford Wilson had previously obtained a grading job at $8 an hour bulldozing on the leased property of the appellees, Clyde Wilson and Willie Blackburn, who were partners doing business as the B. & W. Coal Company, and on the day of the fatal accident the Coal Company representatives showed Clifford Wilson the work they had staked out for the bulldozer. Clifford could not operate the dozer and for that reason he worked out the agreement of splitting the profits with the deceased who could operate the dozer. The father of the deceased testified that it was his understanding from a conversation he had with Willie Blackburn after the accident that the B. & W. Coal Company had insurance and they would be glad to pay for the son's death. Clifford Wilson testified that Clyde Wilson agreed to pay $8 an hour for the use of the operator and bulldozer, that nothing was said about how the operator of the bulldozer would be paid, and Clyde Wilson confirmed this testimony.
The tests or factors traditionally used for determining the criteria of one's employment status are contained in Restatement of the Law of Agency 2d, Section 220, subsection 2, and are substantially the same as the criteria cited in the First Edition of the Restatement of Agency which is quoted in Locust Coal Company v. Bennett (1959), Ky., 325 S.W.2d 322, 324, and in which opinion we said, 'No one of these factors is...
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Cundiff v. Cheng
...omitted). At least in the workers' compensation area, the non-respondeat superior jurisprudence seemed to be settling. See Sellards, 358 S.W.2d at 364 ("No one of these factors is determinative, and each case must be decided on its own particular facts." (quoting Locust Coal Company v. Benn......
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Ky. Unemp. Ins. v. Landmark Comm. News.
...there are various factors that may be considered by a court when confronted with such an issue as we are today. In Sellards. v. B. & W. Coal Co., Ky., 358 S.W.2d 363 (1962), we acknowledged that the traditional common law factors employed in determining whether an individual is an employee ......
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Fern Properties v. Commonwealth, No. 2008-CA-000584-MR (Ky. App. 5/22/2009)
...Ky. Unemployment Ins. Comm `n v. Landmark Cmty. Newspapers of Ky., Inc., 91 S.W.3d 575, 579 (Ky. 2002); Sellards v. B. & W. Coal Co., 358 S.W.2d 363, 364 (Ky. 1962). That section In determining whether one acting for another is a servant or an independent contractor, the following matters o......
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Kentucky Unemployment Ins. Comm'n v. Boone County Bd. of Educ.
...Insurance Commission v. Landmark Community Newspapers of Kentucky, Inc., 91 S.W.3d 575, 579 (Ky.2002) (citing Sellards v. B. & W. Coal Company, 358 S.W.2d 363 (Ky.1962), which in turn adopted the factors identified in Restatement (Second) of Agency § 220(2)). Those factors include: (a) the ......