Chris Harris is the brother of Judy Hartle. He the sole proprietor and owner of Ozark Cable Contracting and has been in business for approximately 10 years. Since he started operating the company he has contracted with different cable television providers to perform a variety of services including the installation of cable television both underground cable and wiring of homes; tower work; conducting audits to find illegal customers; and sales. Mr. Harris has a written contract or agreement with the cable television companies that request his services. The contract includes what services that Ozark Cable Contracting is to perform and in what location. Cable contracting is the only business that Mr. Harris is in. In 2002, Mr. Harris had workers' compensation insurance on himself. In the past, Mr. Harris has hired another company to do work and they were required to provide their own workers' compensation insurance.
In September of 2002, Ozark Cable’s service area was Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Tennessee. Mr. Harris testified that his company does not have any employees and that everyone that works for Ozark Cable including Judy Hartle was a subcontractor. In September of 2002, he had fifteen or twenty people who were performing the same type of work that Judy Hartle performed. There were no written agreements between Ozark Cable and Ms. Hartle or
any other person who performed work for Ozark. The employer's base of operation was in Piedmont, Missouri. Ms. Hartle lived in St. Louis and went to Piedmont to pick up her work orders.
Ozark Cable contracted with cable companies to perform work that could last for a day or six months. Mr. Harris had a list of people that he would call to see if they would work for him at the price he was paying. Judy Hartle was on the list. Ms. Hartle was free to decline the work, was not obligated to be on call, and could work for someone else. Ms. Hartle stated that her brother might not call her again if she turned him down. She did not work continuously for Ozark. Her brother would call her when she was needed. Each cable company provided a list of what services were to be performed at each location and address. Mr. Harris would then give the people that worked for him a list of the exact services at each location they were to complete.
The work that Judy Hartle performed for Ozark was anything from installations including wiring of cable television, to disconnecting customers, and quality control. With regard to quality control, she would receive a copy of what the installers were supposed to have done at each address. She would verify what had been done at each address. On September 17, 2002, she was working for Ozark Cable Contracting performing audits, disconnects and sales. Audits were to verify whether or not for each address they were getting illegal cable services. If that address was not a subscriber, she talked to them about either signing up or being disconnected. If they wanted to sign up, she would perform an installation. Otherwise, she performed a disconnection. Her work was all above ground. The tools that she used to perform her job included drills, screwdrivers, and a ladder.
For quality control services she would get paid a set amount for either a $1 / 2$ day or full day of work. Ms. Hartle was paid a certain sum for each service she performed which included inspecting houses, disconnecting services, signing up services, and installing services. There were no other benefits such as health insurance or 401 K . She was paid weekly with no payroll taxes withheld and no W-2 issued. She was responsible for her deductions and taxes.
Ms. Hartle supplied her own vehicle to go to and from the job sites. She paid for her own gasoline and was not paid for any expenses such as meals or travel. She provided her own tools including a ladder. All of the people that worked for Ozark were required to have a sign on the side of their truck which said Ozark Cable Contracting or Cable TV. Ozark Cable supplied the magnetic signs. Mr. Harris stated that most of the time the person would have a small 12x12 magnetic sign that said Cable TV which worked for whatever cable system they were doing work for. In 2002, some of the trucks had an Ozark Cable magnetic sign on them. The truck Ms. Hartle was using had an Ozark Cable Contracting sign on it that was supplied by Mr. Harris.
Mr. Harris decided what area each person was assigned to work and what specific work was to be performed. He gave Ms. Hartle a computer print out of every address with every type of service that was to be done in the specific area. The employer directed her where to go and what she was to do. She could set her own hours and decide which order of houses or streets she performed the services. Mr. Harris could let Ms. Hartle go at anytime. He was not obligated to keep her for any given period of time or at any particular location. After giving her a list of services to perform, he could have changed his mind and tell her he did not want her to do any more work and to turn her paperwork and sign in. He could let anyone go at any time, even if he had assigned them to an area. Mr. Harris had control over whether they would work or not.
In 2002, Ms. Hartle performed work for Ozark Cable for eleven weeks prior to September 17, 2002. She had worked for him at other times before 2002. On September 17, 2002, Ms. Hartle was working in Tiptonville, Tennessee. She was standing on a seven or eight foot ladder next to the roof of an apartment building working on the splitter of an overhead line. She w