Salesman Properly Found to Be an Employee

In affirming the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board’s conclusion that claimant was an employee of Village Wine, the Third Department wrote:

Claimant was a salesperson for Village Wine Imports Ltd., a wine importer and distributor.  Substantial evidence supports the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board’s conclusion that claimant and those similarly situated were Village Wine’s employees and not independent contractors.  Village Wine set claimant’s commission rate, paid him a draw on his commission for a period of time, and reimbursed his travel and telephone expenses. Claimant was also trained by Village Wine, which assisted his sales efforts by providing product samples and business cards bearing the company name.  Village Wine also set the price, terms and conditions for all sales, gave claimant sales leads, required him to obtain approval for sales, and handled all shipping and invoicing matters.  While evidence in the record could support a contrary result, the Board was free to determine from the above that Village Wine exercised sufficient control over claimant to establish an employer-employee relationship… . Matter of Miciletto…, 515852, 3rd Dept 9-19-13