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Sones v. Southern Lumber Co.

Supreme Court of Mississippi
Oct 13, 1952
215 Miss. 148 (Miss. 1952)

Summary

In Sones the key test was whether the person "is in fact independent, free of the will of his employer — actually and substantially free from his control.

Summary of this case from Boyd v. Crosby Lumber Mfg. Co.

Opinion

No. 38486.

October 13, 1952.

1. Workmen's compensation — findings of fact by Compensation Commission, effect of.

Where the finding of the Compensation Commission on a disputed question of fact is supported by substantial evidence, the courts are not authorized to reverse its judgment, but this rule has no application to a case where there is no dispute as to the facts and the matter for decision is one of law.

2. Workmen's compensation — whether injured employee is servant of independent contractor.

Where a mill owner by an oral logging contract with another party furnished the timber to be cut, and the equipment to be used in the cutting, and agreed to keep the equipment in repair and to furnish the fuel for its operation and reserved the right to terminate the employment at will and reserved also the control of the premises with the right to supervise and inspect the work and to direct the details thereof as it progressed and to receive the entire output, the said other party was not an independent contractor, and the mill owner and his insurance carrier were liable for compensation to an employee injured while operating the equipment so furnished, and this whether the common law rule in negligence cases is applied or the more liberal rule applicable to compensation cases.

Headnotes as approved by Hall, J.

APPEAL from the circuit court of Pearl River County; SEBE DALE, Judge.

Morse Morse, and Grayson B. Keaton, for appellant.

I. The woods foreman was a supervisory employee of Alvin Gipson, d/b/a Southern Lumber Company under the meaning of the Mississippi Workmen's Compensation Act, because the owner of the mill had the right to control the operation in any manner he saw fit. 40 Years of American Compensation, 15 N.A.C.C.A. Law Journal; Cudahy Packing Co. v. Parramore, 263 U.S. 418, 44 S.Ct. 153, 68 L.Ed. 366; Kisner v. Jackson, 159 Miss. 424, 132 So. 90; Bell v. Lumber Co., 151 La. 824, 92 So. 350; Horovitz on Workmen's Compensation, 3rd Ed., p. 228; Texas Company v. Mills, 171 Miss. 231, 156 So. 866; Benjamin v. Davidson Gulfport Fertilizer Co., 169 Miss. 162, 152 So. 839; Harper v. Wilson, 163 Miss. 199, 140 So. 693; Natchez Coca-Cola Bottling Company v. Watson, 160 Miss. 173, 133 So. 677; Caver v. Eggerton, 157 Miss. 88, 127 So. 727.

II. For the purpose of Workmen's Compensation, the claimant and the woods foreman Walter Johnson were both employees of the lumber company and Alvin Gipson, and as such entitled to the benefits of the Mississippi Workmen's Compensation Act, as against his insurer the Bituminous Casualty Corporation. NeSmith v. Reich Bros., 203 La. 928, 14 So.2d 767; Spanja v. Thibadoux, 2 So.2d 668; Dick v. Logging Co., 152 La. 993, 95 So. 99; Birt v. Davis Wood Lbr. Co., 157 La. 111, 102 So. 87; Bell v. Albert Hanson Lbr. Co., 151 La. 824, 92 So. 350; Malone, Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Law Practice, 1st Ed., Sec. 76, p. 88; Tuscaloosa Veneer Co. v. Martin, 233 Ala. 567, 172 So. 608.

III. The oral contract does not create the relationship of owner and independent contractor because it would be against public policy as disclosed by the Workmen's Compensation Act. Scobey v. Southern Lbr. Co., 238 S.W.2d 640; Robinson v. Younse Lbr. Co., 8 La. App. 160; Nelson v. American Cement Plaster Co., 84 Kan. 797, 115 P. 578, 137 A.L.R. 8; Shaffer v. Curiale, 171 Misc. 264, 12 N.Y.S.2d 464.

Rae Bryant, for appellees.

The order of the circuit court of Pearl River County denying compensation to the claimant, Wilmer Lee Sones, is correct and should be affirmed.

This Court has been called upon many times to determine what constitutes an independent contractor. In the case of Crosby Lumber Manufacturing Co., et al. v. Durham, 181 Miss. 559, 179 So. 285, we have a case very similar to the one at hand, as far as facts are concerned.

In the case of Edna Bell Carr v. C.T. Crabtree, et al., 55 So.2d 408, we have a case involving a claim for compensation for death and defense imposed therein was that the deceased was an independent contractor. See also Helton v. Tall Timber Lbr. Co. of Louisiana, Inc., 86 So. 729; Peterson v. Highland Crate Co-op, et al., (Fla.), 23 So.2d 716; Shell Petroleum Corp. v. Clint Linham, (Miss.), 163 So. 839; Murphy v. Tremont Lbr. Co., (La.), 22 So.2d 79; Johnson v. Vincennes Bridge Co., 167 La. 107, 118 So. 82; Birmingham Post Co. v. Sturgeon, (Ala.), 149 So. 74.

It is argued that since Gipson prescribed the size and kind of trees to be cut, the length and the place the cutting was to be done that this destroyed the relationship of independent contractor.

There was no way for Johnson to know how to perform his contract unless he was advised as to the size and kind of trees to be cut from the land in accordance with the deed of purchase by Gipson and, of course, Gipson had a right, if he so desired, to check and see that the ultimate results were properly obtained and as said by our Court in the case of Cook, et al. v. Wright, 177 Miss. 644, 171 So. 686, "It is not necessary that an owner or employer, in order to avoid the responsibilities of master, shall entirely absent himself from the work, or entirely disassociate himself from an active interest, or an active aid in the course of its performance, or from the supervision of the results of said performance, so long as, in respect to the detail of the work necessary or proper to be performed for the production of net results required by the contractor, the physical management of the instrumentalities used, and the physical contact of those employed therein, remain under the sole control of the contractor, or of those placed in authority by him or by his selection and direction."

Much is said by the appellant regarding the likelihood that an owner of valuable timber would permit ordinary workmen to cut and manufacture it for them totally free from supervision or control. We need only to look at the numerous cases decided by this Court involving the cutting of timber to see that such a procedure as having valuable timber cut by other people with no supervision or control over them is carried on every day.

Appellant in reply submitted in part as follows:

We would like to point out that the following points made by the appellant in his original brief have not been answered in the brief of the appellees.

1. The common law test determining the status of the employer and the employee are not controlling in determining his status under Workmen's Compensation. The control test is not a sound test for determining the difference between an employee and an independent contractor under Workmen's Compensation legislation. Because liability is not based upon substituted acts of the master as at common law.

2. The employer in the instant case, even if the control test is employed, had the right and power to control any of the details of the work in the instant case. The appellee argued at length that no control was actually exercised, our original proposition that the right and power to control is the proper test has not been answered.

3. The proposition that an oral contract, no notice of said contract being given, creating a status of employer and independent contractor is engaged in a business necessarily essential to the continued operation of the main enterprise, and where this relationship is permanent, and not on a job basis or delimited as to time, then this is one of the controlling tests as to the relationship of employer and employee. This proposition was not answered by the appellees in their brief.

We point out that the record is uncontradicted that Johnson, the alleged independent contractor, was a tenant on the farm of Alvin Gipson, the owner of the Southern Lumber Company. It is also undisputed that Johnson was Mr. Gipson's farm foreman, and had been for two years. It is also undisputed that Johnson was the woods foreman and employee prior to the time that the "contract," using the same equipment on the same job; using the same truck, and using the same skidder, loggers dream, etc.


Appellant suffered the loss of vision in his left eye while manipulating a binder in tightening a chain around a truck load of logs. He filed a claim under the Workmen's Compensation Act for this injury against Alvin Gipson, doing business under the name of Southern Lumber Company, and his insurance carrier, Bituminous Casualty Corporation. Upon a hearing of the matter the attorney-referee denied a recovery on the ground that appellant was not an employee of Gipson; this action was sustained by the Commission and on appeal to the circuit court an order was entered affirming the same from which order this appeal is prosecuted.

In cases (Hn 1) where the finding of the Commission on a disputed question of fact is supported by substantial evidence we are not authorized to reverse its judgment. In this case, however, there is no dispute as to the facts and the matter for decision is one of law. Gipson owned and operated a sawmill in Pearl River County and, having in his employment more than eight persons, qualified under the Workmen's Compensation Act. About half of his supply of logs came from timber which he owned and the remainder came from purchases of logs from outside parties who brought them to the mill for sale. Gipson had one Walter Johnson in his employment as manager of a farm owned by Gipson and, in addition to the farm duties, Johnson was for some time employed as woods foreman in cutting and hauling logs to the mill from timber owned by Gipson. In doing this work Gipson furnished a truck for the hauling and also furnished a machine known as a "logger's dream" which was used in skidding the logs from the forest and in loading them upon the truck. He also furnished the other equipment used in the logging operations. A few months prior to appellant's injury Gipson entered into an oral contract with Johnson whereby Gipson furnished the above-mentioned equipment to Johnson, agreed to keep the same in repair, agreed to furnish all the gasoline and oil necessary for the operation thereof, and agreed to pay Johnson $13.00 per thousand feet for logs delivered at the mill. No notice of this change was posted at the mill or in any other manner given to the employees. The logs were to be cut from timber owned by Gipson, and Johnson was to employ and pay the men who assisted in cutting and hauling the logs. Johnson himself worked along with these men. Gipson testified that this oral contract did not cover any specific tract or amount of timber, did not expire at any fixed time, and that either he or Johnson had the right to terminate the agreement at any time without notice. Gipson went upon the land from which the timber was to be cut and pointed out the lines. He also directed that the cutting be confined to those trees which measured nine inches and over in diameter at a point ten inches above the ground. All the logs therefrom were to be delivered to his mill. The question presented is whether under these facts appellant was an employee of Gipson or the employee of an independent contractor so as to relieve Gipson and his insurance carrier of liability for the injury.

Finding the answer to the question "Whose servant is this?" is often fraught with difficulty. The tests in arriving at the answer were fully laid down by this Court in the case of Kisner v. Jackson, 159 Miss. 424, 132 So. 90, from which we quote:

"There have been many attempts to define precisely what is meant by the term `independent contractor'; but the variations in the wording of these attempts have resulted only in establishing the proposition that it is not possible within the limitations of language to lay down a concise definition that will furnish any universal formula, covering all cases. At last, and in any given case, it gets back to the original proposition whether in fact the contractor was actually independent. In our own more recent cases, it has been said that the important tests are whether the alleged `independent contractor is one who renders service in the course of an occupation representing the will of his employer only as to the result of his work, and not as to the means by which it is accomplished,' and that he is not a master who has no `right to control the servant; and who is interested in the ultimate result of the work alone as a whole, but not in the details of the performance'; and that `the main element required to constitute the relationship of master and servant is that the servant be subject to the control of the master in carrying on the business at the time of the injury.' Hutchinson-Moore Lbr. Co. v. Pittman, 154 Miss. 1, 122 So. 191, 193; Caver v. Eggerton, 157 Miss. 88, 127 So. 727. But since these statements or definitions refer to the `will of the employer' and to the `control' by the master, we are returned again to the original proposition whether in a given case the alleged independent contractor is in fact independent, free of the will of his employer — actually and substantially free from his control.

"There are several tests to be applied, the weight of each, and whether much or little, rising and falling in the scale as it may or may not be counterbalanced by one or more of the remaining tests, present in the particular case in hand. For this reason these tests cannot be stated in any precise order of importance, but they are as follows: Whether the principal master has the power to terminate the contract at will; whether he has the power to fix the price in payment for the work, or vitally controls the manner and time of payment; whether he furnishes the means and appliances for the work; whether he has control of the premises; whether he furnishes the materials upon which the work is done and receives the output thereof, the contractor dealing with no other person in respect to the output; whether he has the right to prescribe and furnish the details of the kind and character of work to be done; whether he has the right to supervise and inspect the work during the course of the employment; whether he has the right to direct the details of the manner in which the work is to be done; whether he has the right to employ and discharge the subemployees, and to fix their compensation; and whether he is obliged to pay the wages of said employees. These are the tests, as we think, and any other, if differently stated, may be brought within one of those above briefly set out. 14 R.C.L., pp. 67-76; 31 C.J., pp. 473-475; 39 C.J., pp. 1316-1323."

The Kisner case was followed in Natchez Coca-Cola Bottling Co. v. Watson, 160 Miss. 173, 133 So. 677; Benjamin v. Davidson-Gulfport Fertilizer Co., 169 Miss. 162, 152 So. 839; and Texas Co. v. Mills, 171 Miss. 231, 156 So. 866.

(Hn 2) Reverting to the tests mentioned by Judge Griffith in the Kisner case and applying them to the facts here presented we find that Gipson had the power to terminate Johnson's contract at will; Gipson furnished the means and appliances for the work; Gipson had control of the premises; Gipson furnished the materials upon which the work was done and received the entire output thereof and Johnson dealt with no other person in respect to the output; Gipson had the right to prescribe and furnish the details of the kind and character of work to be done; Gipson had the right to supervise and inspect the work during the course of the employment and to direct the details of the manner in which the work was to be done.

In Natchez Coca-Cola Bottling Co. v. Watson, supra, the Court emphasized the fact that the company furnished the truck and supplied it with gas and oil for use in a designated territory assigned to its alleged independent contractor in selling the company's products on a commission basis, and concluded that the driver of the truck was not an independent contractor but an employee of the company.

In Benjamin v. Davidson-Gulfport Fertilizer Co., supra, we held that where the company furnished all the tools, appliances, and equipment for doing the work, the servant, although engaged in unloading a car for a fixed price, was an employee and not an independent contractor.

In Texas Co. v. Mills, supra, the Court held that a bulk station agent was not an independent contractor but an employee of the company, notwithstanding the fact that he furnished his own truck in making deliveries of petroleum products, and, in so holding, attached much importance to the fact that the contract of employment was for an indefinite period of time and that the business in which the agent was engaged was not distinct from that of the company but was one of the methods pursued by it in carrying on its own business.

The above authorities from our own Court dealt with the common law rule in negligence cases. The rule is even more liberal in compensation cases. In Larson's Workmen's Compensation Law, Vol. 1, Sec. 43.42, at pages 630-631, it is said: "The `servant' concept at common law performed one main function: to delimit the scope of a master's vicarious tort liability. . . . By contrast, compensation law is concerned not with injuries by the employee in his detailed activities, but with injuries to him as a result not only of his own activities (controlled by the employer as to details) but of those co-employees, independent contractors and other third persons (some controlled by the employer, and others not). To this issue, the right of control of details of his work has no such direct relation as it has to the issue of vicarious tort liability. So, for example, . . . if I regularly, year in and year out, engage an individual trucker to transport logs from my woods to my lumber mill, which is an integral part of my lumbering operation, paying him by the load, and reserving no right of control over the details of his work, it is quite possible that this man is as appropriate a subject for compensation protection as any worker that could be found. He is taking a regular and continuous part in the manufacture of my product; his work is hazardous; his rate of pay is such that he and his family cannot be expected to bear the cost of industrial accident. In every respect he is the kind of worker for whose benefit the compensation act was thought necessary."

Let us turn now to some of the authorities from other jurisdictions which deal with compensation cases.

In the case of Bell v. Albert Hanson Lumber Co., Ltd., 151 La. 824, 92 So. 350, the Supreme Court of Louisiana quoted from several authorities and concluded: "In the case at bar the most salient feature is that the decedent was a mere swamp laborer earning his livelihood as one of a gang of men constituting part of the logging outfit of the defendant company's mill. To characterize such a laborer as an independent contractor would be simply to ignore the realities of the situation. A significant circumstance is that for keeping the logging outfit running defendant was more or less dependent upon the men who were in the habit of doing this work, that the men themselves, while under no contractual obligation to report regularly for work, or to maintain regular hours for working, yet could not but realize that they were more or less expected to do so, as their doing so was necessary for the continuous operation of the logging outfit. Their keeping their jobs necessitated, doubtless, some dependability on their part. Defendant had absolute control of them in the manner of allowing them to go to work, and discontinuing their work."

In Dick v. Gravel Logging Co., 152 La. 993, 95 So. 99, the Supreme Court of Louisiana cited the Bell case with approval and said. "The object of the statute is to shift the burden resulting from the accidents of our intense industrial activities from the employer to the general public. It is humane in its purpose, and its scope should be enlarged rather than restricted. Its provisions should be liberally construed, so as to include all services that can be reasonably said to come within them. Under the narrow and restricted construction sought to be placed upon the statute by defendant's counsel, every workman employed to do piece work in shop, factory, home, or elsewhere would be classed as an independent contractor, although he is not more free from the control and direction of his employer than the most ordinary day laborer. If this construction was to obtain, it would be only a matter of a short while before the law would become a legal curiosity or a mere memory instead of the wise, beneficial, active, remedial statute its reasonable interpretation and application can make it."

We are impressed with the language of the Louisiana Court of Appeal in Robinson, et al. v. Younse Lumber Co., et al., 8 La. App. 160, as follows: "If those engaged in the sawmill business, which includes logging, were permitted to put an impecunious man in charge of the log cutters and base his compensation upon the amount of logs cut instead of paying him a salary and when sued for compensation plead that the man in charge was an independent contractor, the laborers in the woods would be entirely cut off and the purpose of the law would be thwarted. If courts should permit those engaged in industrial enterprises to escape liability in this way, the door would be left wide open to all kinds of subterfuge to escape liability and the act would be a dead letter in our books."

A case quite similar on the facts to the one here presented is Liberty Lumber Co. v. Silas, 49 Ga. App. 262, 175 S.E. 265. There the company owned the timber to be cut and orally contracted with a party to cut and haul the logs to its mill at a stipulated price per thousand feet; the company furnished the equipment to be used in performing the contract, did not expressly specify anything as to the manner or method of its execution, and no time was fixed for its termination. The Georgia Court held that the man in charge of the logging was not an independent contractor and that an employee injured in the course of the work was entitled to the benefits of the Workmen's Compensation Law.

Numerous other authorities could be cited which follow the same trend as those above mentioned. The solution, after all, is found in a determination from the facts whether the alleged contractor is in truth and in fact independent. Where, as in this case, the mill owner furnishes the timber to be cut and the equipment to be used in the cutting, agrees to keep the equipment in repair and to furnish the fuel for its operation, and reserves the right to terminate the arrangement at will, the so-called contractor is not in fact independent. He is subject at all times to the will of the owner, is working only by the grace of the owner, and his employees are within the protection of the compensation law.

The judgment of the lower court will be therefore reversed and judgment will be entered here in favor of appellant against the appellees and the cause remanded to the Commission solely for determination and supervision of the weekly payments to be made to appellant.

Reversed and judgment here.

McGehee, C.J., Lee, Arrington and Ethridge, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Sones v. Southern Lumber Co.

Supreme Court of Mississippi
Oct 13, 1952
215 Miss. 148 (Miss. 1952)

In Sones the key test was whether the person "is in fact independent, free of the will of his employer — actually and substantially free from his control.

Summary of this case from Boyd v. Crosby Lumber Mfg. Co.

In Sones v. Southern Lumber Co., et al., 215 Miss. 148, 153, 60 So.2d 582, we said: "In cases where the finding of the Commission on a disputed question of fact is supported by substantial evidence we are not authorized to reverse its judgment.

Summary of this case from Williams v. Vicksburg W. Poultry Co.

In Wilmer Lee Sones v. Southern Lumber Company (Miss.), 60 So.2d 582, we quoted with approval from Dick v. Gravel Logging Co., 152 La. 993, 95 So. 99, as follows: "The object of the statute is to shift the burden resulting from the accidents of our intense industrial activities from the employer to the general public.

Summary of this case from Jackson v. Fly
Case details for

Sones v. Southern Lumber Co.

Case Details

Full title:SONES v. SOUTHERN LUMBER COMPANY, et al

Court:Supreme Court of Mississippi

Date published: Oct 13, 1952

Citations

215 Miss. 148 (Miss. 1952)
60 So. 2d 582

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