Contractor Liability

Small Business, Entrepreneurship, and General Partnerships Discussion

Organizations usually get in to partnerships with each other so that they can benefit jointly from a given venture. In such partnerships, the two or more organizations entering the partnership mostly form a memorandum of understanding or sign a contract. The documents contain a general understanding that states the work each organization will perform for the partnership to bear the intended fruits. When one party does not fulfill its end of the bargain, then the other parties can seek legal redress based on the memorandum of understanding or the contract.

The Case

The case involves Hercules Company and Hays Trucking Company. Hercules Company specializes in the extraction and sell of resins from tree stumps while Hays trucking company specializes in the transportation of tree stumps. Hercules contracted Hays to harvest and transport tree stumps for the extraction of resins. Hercules would mark the tree stumps it wants for production and Hays would harvest and transport them to the production plant. However, one day, MR Hays was in an accident, which killed Phyllis Lewis. The accident took place while Mr. Hays was transporting tree stumps to the extraction plant. In court, Mr. Hays argued that as an employee of Hercules, Hercules should also bear the responsibility of the accident.

Critical Legal Thinking

Deciding if a party is an employee or a contractor requires an understanding of the relationship between the two parties. The relationship will have defining factors that will indicate the state of the arrangement between the two parties. One factor to consider is the working relationship between the two parties. Is a party was able to perform the work without supervision from the other part, then it suggests that party is a contractor not an employee. This is because for an employee, he or she would not enjoy such autonomy. The other factor is examining, the contract between the two...