Transport Labor Contract/Leasing, Inc. & Subsidiaries - Page 35

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          refers to as a so-called administrative employer of each driver-            
          employee, petitioner does not cite, and we have not found, any              
          authority that supports petitioner’s suggestion that an entity              
          may selectively be the employer for purposes of withholding                 
          and/or paying employment and Federal income tax but not for other           
          purposes such as the section 274(n)(1) limitation.                          
               With respect to petitioner’s argument that, in finding                 
          certain facts, the Court in Transport Labor I gave improper                 
          weight to certain evidence, petitioner asserts:                             
                    The Court’s reliance on the Lease Agreement,                      
               Driver Handbook, and Driver’s Contract also is contrary                
               to Beech Trucking.  As Beech Trucking noted, it is                     
               well-established that “[a] contract purporting to                      
               create an employer-employee relationship is not                        
               controlling where application of the common law factors                
               to the facts and circumstances indicates the absence of                
               such a relationship.” * * *                                            
                    Furthermore, the Court gave too much weight to the                
               Driver Handbook.  The Handbook only described ordinary                 
               activities carried out by truck drivers that were                      
               either recitations of Department of Transportation                     
               requirements, obvious to a licensed truck driver, or                   
               merely advisory, not mandatory.  While TLC may have had                
               written policies aimed at reducing workers’                            
               compensation claims, there is no evidence that TLC                     
               controlled the work of the drivers through those                       
               policies.  [Citations omitted.]                                        
          On the record before us, we reject petitioner’s assertion.                  
               A contract purporting to create an employer-employee                   
          relationship is not controlling where application of the common-            
          law employment factors to the facts and circumstances indicates             
          the absence of such a relationship.  Profl. & Executive Leasing,            






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