Towner v. Hosea O. Weaver & Sons

The plaintiffs appeal from a judgment entered on a jury verdict for the defendant in a wrongful death case that arose out of a death that occurred at a construction site when a trench caved in on a worker. Two issues are presented: (1) whether the trial court reversibly erred in refusing the plaintiffs' proposed instructions regarding the reserved right-of-control test for determining a person's status as an employee or independent contractor; and (2) whether the trial court misstated the law in its instructions to the jury regarding the "loaned servant" doctrine. We hold that the trial…