2010 MTWCC 16 - Workers' Compensation Court

at 810 East Iron Street in Butte. 108 Richter’s business is identified on the license asPahaska Services. 109 Wyatt testified that he does not believe Richter was ever paid bythe hour at P & M Transmission, but was paid by the job like the rest of the mechanics.Wyatt opined that Richter identified himself as an employee so he could getunemployment benefits. 11054 Wyatt testified that at the time of his deposition, Hallquist had little involvementwith the shop, although he occasionally worked on a vehicle there. 111 Hallquistfrequently refers jobs to Wyatt. 112 Wyatt does not know if Hallquist does any advertisingfor P & M Transmission aside from business cards. Wyatt testified: “It’s pretty muchword of mouth in this town. If you get a good reputation, you don’t need to do nothing,you know, because all your buddies tell their buddies and they tell their friends, youknow, and it just goes.” 11355 Craig, an accountant who previously prepared Hallquist’s tax returns, testified attrial. I found Craig to be a credible witness. Craig has a business degree from theUniversity of Montana. She is not a Certified Public Accountant. Craig preparedHallquist’s tax returns for 2004 and 2005. During those years, Craig did not find anybusiness expenses reported for employees of P & M Transmission, but did findpayments to independent contractors. 11456 Craig has never been to Hallquist’s business and she has never spoken to any ofthe mechanics who work in the shop. To the best of her knowledge, no one other thanHallquist had any financial investment in the business. Craig does not know how theshop ran or whether Hallquist had the right to control the work or schedules of the othermechanics. 11557 The ICCU concluded:Harvey Caldwell, Kris Loomis, Morgan Wyatt, Turone Richter, and JohnBlackwood do not have Montana Independent Contractor ExemptionCertificates or meet the criteria required to apply for the Montana108 Ex.1 at 6.109 Id.110 Wyatt Dep. 13:5-16.111 Wyatt Dep. 8:15-21.112 Wyatt Dep. 8:22 – 9:1.113 Wyatt Dep. 9:5-8.114 Trial Test.115 Trial Test.Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Judgment- 18