Whitman's Case

This appeal presents two issues of coverage under the workers’ compensation scheme. The first is the familiar question whether the claimant was an independent contractor or an employee at the time of his injury. The second is the unfamiliar question whether he was working jointly for two employers at the time of his injury so as to impose statutory financial liabilities upon each of them. By thorough findings and reasoning after an evidentiary hearing, an administrative judge of the Department of Industrial Accidents (department) concluded that the claimant was a covered employee of both…