Gaines v. Allstate Insurance Co.

GRISSOM, Chief Justice.

This is a workmen’s compensation case. Walker Gaines fell from the roof of a house owned by Mrs. Lewis while he was putting on roofing which had been sold to her by Sears, Roebuck and Company. Gaines was injured in the fall. He claimed he was an employee of Sears and sued Allstate Insurance Company, who was Sears’ workmen’s compensation insurance carrier. The insurance company contended that Gaines was not Sears’ employee, but the employee of Seawright and that Seawright was an independent contractor employed by Sears, as the agent of Mrs. Lewis, to install the roofing.…