Press Publishing Co. v. Industrial Accident Commission

This is a proceeding by petitioners, General Accident & Fire Assurance Company, insurer of Lucia K. Hicks, owner of a creamery in Santa Barbara, and the Press Publishing Company, a newspaper published in that city, and its insurer, Employers’ Liability Assurance Corporation, Limited, of London, England, to have annulled the award made by the Industrial Accident Commission to Leon Benefiel for injuries found by the commission to have arisen out of and in the course of his joint employment by said Lucia K. Hicks and the Press Publishing Company. The liability for compensation was apportioned according to the ratio which the wages Benefiel received from each employer bore to the sum total of the wages he received from both. On behalf of General Accident & Fire Assurance Company, insurer of Lucia K. Hicks, it is contended that Benefiel was, at the time of the injury for which compensation was awarded, not an employee of Lucia K. Hicks, but an independent contractor, and that therefore, Lucia K. Hicks was not liable for compensation for injuries received by him. On behalf of the Employers’ Liability Assurance Company, insurer of the Press Publishing Company, it is contended that Leon…