Wesley C. and Rhonda A. Wickum - Page 6

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          words of the script were prescribed by Combined, but the agent’s            
          “style”--i.e., the manner in which he made the delivery, his                
          overall demeanor, manner of dress, etc.--were left to the                   
          discretion of the individual agent.  The main purpose for using             
          the scripted presentation was to avoid misrepresentations of the            
          insurance products, and agents have been fired for                          
          misrepresenting products.  Nonetheless, Combined’s agents did not           
          always use the scripted presentation, and Combined’s senior                 
          management was aware of this fact.  Petitioner, at times, devised           
          his own presentations, rather than those scripted by Combined,              
          for use by the agents he supervised as well as in his own sales             
          work.  Petitioner set his own hours and those of the agents he              
          supervised.  For the sales agents he supervised, petitioner                 
          decided which of Combined’s products to concentrate in, which mix           
          of new policies versus renewals to pursue, and the location in              
          the territory where each agent would do sales work, although the            
          territory itself was established by Combined.                               
               Each of the insurance products that petitioner supervised              
          the sale of or sold had a fixed percentage commission, which was            
          set when the product was designed for all the agents selling it             
          in a particular State.  The insurance agents’ sales commissions             
          were paid by Combined rather than by petitioner as district                 
          manager.  However, by controlling the routes and accounts                   
          assigned to each agent, petitioner could significantly affect the           
          compensation of the agents he supervised.                                   




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