On March 17, 2015, in Atiapo v. Goree Logistics, Inc., the North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed an Industrial Commission Opinion and Award holding that Owen Thomas, Inc. (“Owen Thomas”), a federally licensed transportation broker based in Zephyrhills, Florida, was a “statutory employer” under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-19.1, and ordering Owen Thomas to pay Plaintiff temporary total disability compensation, all of Plaintiff’s medical expenses arising from injuries due to Plaintiff’s accident, and the costs of the hearing. There are at least two important takeaways from the Court’s decision.

In the course of arranging for the transportation of freight for its customer, Sunny Ridge Farms (“Sunny Ridge”), a grower, packer, and shipper of fresh berries with operations in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Mexico, Owen Thomas, the broker, entered into a typical brokercarrier agreement with Goree Logistics, Inc. (“Goree”), a federally licensed motor carrier headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Court noted that the agreement provided that Goree would control the work to be performed in terms of the transportation of freight, and that Goree would be responsible for payment of all taxes, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and other fees. Plaintiff Frances Atiapo, a North Carolina resident who drove a truck pursuant to an independent contractor agreement with Goree, was injured in an accident in Colorado while transporting rejected goods from their intended destination in Wyoming. At the time of the accident, Goree did not have workers’ compensation insurance.