AGO 1951-53 No. 32.

• Case Date: May 01, 1951
• Court: Washington

Washington Attorney General Opinions 1951. AGO 1951-53 No. 32. May 1, 1951[Orig. Op. Page 1]PRIVATEINDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR.A contract whereby the owner of timber reserves the right to terminate the contract whenever he chooses and retains control of what, when and where logs are to be cut, even though said contract provides for payment on the basis of a stipulated amount per thousand feet, does not constitute an independent contractor.Honorable John ShaughnessySupervisor of Industrial InsuranceDepartment of Labor and IndustriesOlympia, WashingtonCite as: AGO 1951-53 No. 32Dear Sir: Receipt is hereby acknowledged of your letter of April 4, 1951, together with copy of agreement signed by Sig A. Anderson and Glenn Mead. In your letter you state: "We submit herewith a Contract and request your opinion if under the contract the workmen are independent contractors." ANALYSIS The industrial insurance act defines the following terms: "'Employer' means any person, body of persons, corporate or otherwise, and the legal representatives of a deceased employer, all while engaged in this state in any extrahazardous work, by way of trade or business, or who contracts with one or more workmen, the essence of which is the personal labor of such workman or workmen, in extrahazardous work." (51.02.07, RCW [[RCW 51.08.070]]; § 7675 Rem. Rev. Stat., Chap. 41, sec. 2, Laws of 1939). [Orig. Op. Page 2] "The word 'workman' means every person in this state who is engaged in the employment of an employer under this title, whether by way of manual labor or otherwise in the course of his employment; also every person in this state who is engaged in the employment of or who is working under an independent contract, the essence of which is his personal labor for an employer under this title, whether by way of manual labor or otherwise, in the course of his employment." (51.02.18, RCW [[RCW 51.08.180]]; § 7675, 7674-1, Rem. Rev. Stat., Chap. 41, sec. 2, Laws of 1939; Chap. 211, sec. 2, Laws of 1937). No other definition with reference to independent contractor appears in the act. Our court has on many occasions attempted to define the term "independent contractor." The last expression of the supreme court in which more or less a review of the prior cases was made is the case of Clausen v. Department of Labor & Industries, 15 Wn. (2d) 62. In reviewing the...