A trial court’s decision to ask a jury whether an injured carpenter, who was both an employee and the sole owner of his carpentry business, was an independent contractor or an employee of the general contractor was flawed and went against nearly a century of precedent, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
The high court unanimously ruled March 26 in Patton v. Worthington Associates that the prelude jury question should have been decided as a matter of law at the summary judgment phase. The ruling overturns a decision by the state Superior Court allowing the prelude question to go before the jury.
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