Bates v. Industrial Accident Commission

Petitioner seeks review and annulment of an order of the respondent Industrial Accident Commission which determined that at the time of an injury petitioner was performing services for respondent Henry Go-den doing business as H & H Catering Company, as an independent contractor, and not as an employee.

Goden was engaged in the catering business carried on by the use of canteen-type trucks which he owned and which bore the name “Travel Lunch, H & H Catering.” Each truck had a route which Goden controlled and which consisted^ of various stops at factories and building projects. The trucks carried sandwiches, pies, soft drinks, candy, nuts and cigarettes which were sold by the driver at the various stops during coffee breaks and at the lunch hour. In the latter part of March 1956, petitioner and Goden entered into an oral agreement whereby the petitioner was to use one of Goden’s trucks on a route to be furnished by Goden. By the arrangement between them the petitioner agreed to pay $10 each day for the use of the truck which he was to keep at his own home at night and was to furnish the necessary gas and oil. Goden agreed to provide the insurance on the truck and to pay for the…