- 35 - 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,Page: Previous 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Next
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