Rinaldi

Petitioner Ron Rinaldi (Rinaldi), administrator of the Uninsured Employers Fund, seeks review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board). The Board found that the injured worker, respondent Raymond Curry (applicant), was an employee of respondent Robert Brown (Brown), an unlicensed contractor uninsured for workers’ compensation liability, and not an employee of respondent Wendell Garrett, doing business as Garrett Roofing (Garrett), the licensed contractor who hired Brown. Rinaldi contends that the injured worker was an employee of Garrett as a matter of law because Brown did not have a contractor’s license.

Garrett is a licensed contractor who contracted to repair the roof of a homeowner in Daly City. Garrett secured the services of Brown to do the hot tar portion of the job. Brown employed applicant, who sustained bums on November 7, 1984, when a hot tar pot overturned while he was performing services at the job site in Daly City.

After learning that Brown was uninsured for workers’ compensation, applicant filed a claim against Garrett. State Compensation Insurance Fund, Brown, and the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations, as…