Donna Lee Stephen v. R. C. Leamon and Conditionaire Company, Inc.

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. section 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this claim for death benefits, the claimants contend the evidence preponderates against the trial court's findings that the decedent was an independent contractor and that the defendant, Leamon, was not a statutory employer. At the conclusion of the trial, the chancellor made the following findings and conclusions: "The issue in this case is whether Mr. Stephens, Mr. Raymond Stephens, was an employee or independent contractor. In resolving that issue, the Court has placed primary reliance upon the testimony of Kim Ray, Leon Evans and WilliamLevon Stephens, because those are the witnesses who were most intimately involved in the work that was performed by Raymond Stephens. "It's undisputed, based on the testimony of these witnesses that Mr. Raymond Stephens did perform services for Conditionaire Company. In particular, he installed duct work for heating and air systems. He would perform that work in accordance with plans and specifications that were provided by Conditionaire. "He was not directly supervised in the performance of his work. There was no one on a daily basis, or even an hourly basis, who reviewed his work or the method in which he did his work. The work that he did was reviewed from time to time and, upon completion of the assigned work, was reviewed by Mr. Kim Ray and by Mr. Leon Evans on behalf of Conditionaire. The purpose of that review was to ensure that the work complied with the plans and specifications and with the applicable codes. "Mr. Stephens was at times provided with time frames within which the work was to be done, but he was not given a specific time to report to work each day and a specific time to terminate work each day. He was not directed as to when he could eat or when he could take breaks. Primarily, he provided his own tools; however he did from time to time use ladders and a vacuum cleaner that were provided by 2