Distinguishing Employees from Independent Contractors

This can often be a thorny issue, but it is important to be able to make the determination.  It can affect ownership of work product, responsibility for compliance with employment regulations and vicarious liability for civil or criminal wrongs.

Prior posts may also be helpful: Employee or Independent Contractor; Shot Girls: Employees or Independent Contractors?

Shot Girls: Employees or Independent Contractors?

You are in a bar, enjoying an evening with some friends. One friend has clearly had too much enjoyment and is loudly calling attention to himself and his condition. He is approached by a young woman, barely 18years old, who you have seen many times during the evening carrying a tray of brightly colored shots through the bar, selling them to customers.  She approaches your friend and in a matter of a few minutes, she manages to sell him 3 shots at $6 each, which he downs in succession.  He slips the "shot girl" a generous tip as she moves on to approach another group of revelers. Later that night, your friend drives his car into an intersection against a red light and paralyzes the driver of another car. Certainly, there must be dram shot liability under these circumstances! But wait - the bar owner says that the "shot girl" was not his employee.  Rather, she is an independent contractor - an entrepreneur - earning tips for her services. Is this a scam to avoid liability or is it a legitimate "yellow cab" arrangement? As with most situations in law, it depends . . . on the details of the relationship.

Some of these arrangements sound a but sketchy from a liability standpoint.  Others seem to be better organized from a legal standpoint to take advantage of the independent contractor liability rules. Do the shot girls have to carry dram shop insurance?

The Legal Environment of Business is indeed a landscape of craggy hills, leaving a cache of caves and crannies for the clever to covet.

Law Lessong - Vicarious Liability

The next installment in the “Law Lessong” series is Vicarious Liability Song.  This simple video and song from a Power Point presentation helps students consider the issues of vicarious liability  -- specifically, the potential for an employer being civilly and criminally liable for the torts and crimes of their employees.

Learn more about Law Lessongs from the post found here.  More videos may be found at my youtube channel. Please feel free to use them in the classroom or as assignments or in any way that they work for you as an educational resource.