Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

If you are injured at work, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation, and potentially other damages. However, for workers’ compensation purposes, you must be classified as an employee instead of an independent contractor. There are different tests that courts use to determine whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee. The Massachusetts Supreme Court clarified here that the appropriate test is the one in workers’ compensation law. If you are injured on the job, you should contact a skilled Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorney to help you get the benefits that you are entitled to. They can also help you to get any other damages you may be entitled to.

Facts of the Case

A woman worked delivering papers, but she could (and did) subcontract out some of the work. There was a specific time each day that the papers needed to be delivered by, but as long as she delivered them by that time she could deliver them when she wanted. She could choose her route and she used her own car. She worked not for the publishers of the paper, but a third party who employed people to do the delivering of the newspapers. She was delivering newspapers when she fell of a ramp and hurt her right knee and right hand. A few months later she fell again on the ice and hurt her right leg. She eventually needed two surgeries: one for her right hand and one for her right knee. She filed for workers’ compensation due to these injuries. She was denied because the administrative judge determined that she was an independent contractor and therefore not eligible for workers’ compensation.