Sebago v. Boston Cab Dispatch, Inc.
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs in these consolidated cases leased taxicabs and licenses, called “medallions,” for each taxicab. Plaintiffs claimed that they were employees of certain taxicab owners, radio associations, and a taxicab garage (collectively, Defendants) but were misclassified as independent contractors. Defendants argued that their relationships with Plaintiffs must be considered in the context of a municipal regulation (Rule 403), which explicitly permits drivers to operate as independent contractors. Plaintiffs argued that the municipal regulation could not override the independent contractor statute, under which an individual performing any service is presumed to be an employee. The superior court concluded that Plaintiffs provided a service to Defendants but denied summary judgment on the grounds that genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the provision of taxi services was within the usual course of Defendants’ businesses. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the lower court’s order, holding (1) Rule 403 is not contrary to the policies undergirding the independent contractor statute; and (2) because the the medallion owners and radio associations had, in complying with Rule 403, satisfied each prong of the independent contractor test, summary judgment should have been granted to those defendants on count one of the complaints, misclassification as independent contractors.
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