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Ardell DeBerg (Mr. DeBerg), TLC’s chief executive officer at
the time of the trial in the instant case and TLC’s sales
representative during the years at issue, gave the testimony that
petitioner cites with respect to the statement that “TLC becomes
the employer.” That statement appeared in a form letter that Mr.
DeBerg, as TLC’s sales representative, sent to prospective
clients. Mr. DeBerg testified (Mr. DeBerg’s testimony):
TLC becomes the employer. What I used to explain was
an issue for the trucking company owner normally was
but they’re my employees. What are my employees going
to think if now you become the employer. That was
usually an issue for them.
I would explain to them that there’s really two
kinds of employers. There’s the administrative
employer, which that’s what we are. We take care of
all the tax deposits, the tax returns for the
employees, the work comp insurance, and then there’s
the physical employer, which you remain the physical
employer. You tell them -- well, the phrase we used to
use was, The worse thing that can happen is nothing
changes.
What I used to use quite often was: In order to
be an employer, you need to be an attorney, you need to
be an accountant, you need to be a priest and a shrink
sometimes. Lean on us to be the attorney and the
accountant, and we handle all that back room work for
you, but you’re still the boss. You handle the day-to-
day tasks, so the worst thing that can happen is
nothing changes. The employee doesn’t really -- we’re
pretty invisible. [Reproduced literally.]
Contrary to petitioner’s assertion, the Court in Transport
Labor I did not overlook the testimony of Mr. DeBerg. Petitioner
chooses to focus on the portion of Mr. Deberg’s testimony where
he stated: “You handle the day-to-day tasks, so the worst thing
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