Court of Appeals Decides Claimant Is an Employee Rather Than Independent Contractor, Reversing District Court
Claimant was a carpenter who started doing carpentry work for Stark Construction when he had an injury. When he reached the hospital, claimant indicated he was employed by Don Risdahl Builders and was self-employed. Claimant later filed a claim against Stark, who affirmatively alleged that he was an independent contractors. The deputy found claimant was an independent contractor and the commissioner reversed. At the district court level, the court reversed the agency, finding that claimant was an independent contractor. The Court of Appeals reversed the action of the district court and affirmed the action of the commissioner in Stark Contruction v. Lauterwasser , No. 13-0609 (Iowa App. April 16, 2014). Initially, the court found that since the law did not vested the agency with power to interpret the term "employee," no deference was due the commissioner in determining how the term was to be defined. On appeal, claimant contended that the dist...