Rosa V. Oscar Case

Name of case: Rosa v. Oscar

Facts: Oscar hired by the University of Newton to teach two business law classes on 2009 on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 to 10:15 AM and 11:00 to 12:15PM. At 10:55 AM on 7 March 2009, Oscar was moving from room 205 to room 110 for his next class. While moving down the stairs between the second and the first floors, he negligently collided with Rosa, who was the student at the University of Newton, and Rosa was seriously injured.

Action: Plaintiff would be suing Oscar and the University of Newton for Oscar’s tort of negligence that caused her in serious injured.

Issue or Question of Law: What was Oscar’s position in the University of Newton?

Rule of Law: Oscar was an independent contractor in the University of Newton.

Reasoning: Oscar would be an independent contractor in the University of Newton because of:

1. Level of skill or education required for the job. Oscar had high level of education to teach business law classes in the University because he was an attorney.

2. Agreement of parties. Oscar entered into a written agreement with the University of Newton providing that he would have the status of an “Independent Contractor”.

3. Method of payment. Oscar was paid by each class.

4. Are income and FICA taxes withheld? Taxes and social security payments were not withheld from his salary.

However, Oscar would be an employee in the University of Newton because of:

Who supplies the tools or equipment used by the agent to do the work? The University of Newton required following their policy such as using a syllabus in each class, using the text book that the University had already chosen, and using tests that the University