Bassell v. Al Landers Dump Trucks, Inc.

This is an appeal from a summary final judgment for one of several defendants in an action arising out of an accident between an automobile and a truck. The sole question presented is whether there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the defendant-appellee was the employer of the owner-driver of the truck involved.

The trial judge decided that there was no such issue and that the owner-driver of the truck was, as a matter of law, an independent contractor. Under this finding, the defendant-appellee was simply a transportation broker and not an employer of the owner-driver. There…