Allen v. Kraft Food Co.

The appellant lost his balance and fell from a scaffold while painting the appellee’s premises. A majority of the full board denied compensation on the grounds that appellant was an independent contractor and not an employee. We are asked to review that decision.

There is little conflict in the evidence. That most favorable to the appellee discloses that appellant, who had worked on 15 to 20 different painting jobs from January to October, 1945, advertised himself as a painting contractor and represented himself to the company as such in partnership with one Brodie. The company submitted…