Ninth Circuit Reaffirms That Insurance Agents Are Independent Contractors
In Murray v. Principal Financial Group, et al, No. 09-16664 (July 27), the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision that the plaintiff in the case, a “career agent” suing for alleged sex discrimination, is not an employee entitled to the Title VII protections of an employee.В See Adcock v. Chrysler Corp. (9th Cir. 1999) 166 F. 3rd 1290, 1292.В The Court cited law from a number of other circuits which holds that “insurance agents are independent contractors and not employees for purposes of federal employment statutes”, including ERISA, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and Title VII.В The Court said it wrote on the case to clarify the three different formulations of the test to determine whether an individual is an independent contractor or an employee: the common agency test, the economic realities test, and the common law hybrid test.В The district perceived the second test to have been set forth in Adcock, where the Circuit wrote that the test is a “fact-specific” one founded on the “economic realities” of the arrangement.В The Court said it agreed with the district court that there is no functional difference among the three different formulations and that the basic issue is the hiring party’s means and manner of controlling how the work is accomplished.
July 27, 2010
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