Opinion Number

Dear Secretary Smith:

You have requested an opinion from this office as to whether a sugar cane hauler, which you describe as an owner or operator of a tractor trailer who hauls sugar cane for a sugar cane producer during grinding season, is an independent contractor for the purposes of Louisiana's workers' compensation statutes, specifically R.S. 23:1021(7), which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:(7) "independent contractor" means any person who renders service, other than manual labor, for a specified recompense for a specified result either as a unit or as a whole, under the control…