Transcriber of Administrative Hearings Was an Employee Entitled to Unemployment Insurance Benefits—Appeals Board Not Required to Follow or to Explain Why It Didn’t Follow an “Unappealed” Ruing by an Administrative Law Judge

The Third Department determined claimant, who transcribed administrative hearings for “The Mechanical Secretary,” was an employee entitled to unemployment insurance benefits. The court noted that the unemployment insurance appeals board was not required to explain why it did not follow a prior “unappealed” ruling by an administrative law judge which went the other way:

“Whether an employment relationship exists within the meaning of the unemployment insurance law is a question of fact, no one factor is determinative and the determination of the [Board], if supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole, is beyond further judicial review even though there is evidence in the record that would have supported a contrary conclusion” … . “An employer- employee relationship exists when the evidence shows that the employer exercises control over the results produced or the means used to achieve the results” … . Here, the record establishes that The Mechanical Secretary advertised for transcriber positions. The president would interview the applicants and assess the quality of their work. The transcriber was required to have certain equipment, but The Mechanical Secretary would loan the transcriber a transcription machine if needed. The Mechanical Secretary arranged to have the work delivered to and picked up from the transcribers within a certain area. In claimant’s case, however, because she did not live in close proximity to the company, she was required to pick her work up at its office and to return the completed work to that office by 9:00 a.m. Claimant was occasionally reimbursed for her travel expenses. Significantly, The Mechanical Secretary set the nonnegotiable pay rate, supplied all the paper needed by the transcribers, and reviewed the final product for mistakes and would correct any minor mistakes or, where the mistakes were significant, send it back to be corrected by the transcriber. Furthermore, The Mechanical Secretary had to be notified if a transcriber was going to take any vacation. Given the evidence produced, we find that there is substantial evidence to support the Board’s finding that The Mechanical Secretary exercised a sufficient degree of control over claimant’s work to establish an employment relationship … .

We are unpersuaded by The Mechanical Secretary’s contention that the Board was bound by a prior unappealed Administrative Law Judge decision that found medical transcribers that it had used to be independent contractors. Claimant, who is not a medical transcriber, was not involved in that prior proceeding such that there was a full and fair opportunity for her to contest the decision, nor is the Board “required to conform to the precedent established in the prior unappealed decision or offer a rational explanation for not doing so” … . Matter of Ingle (The Mech. Secretary, Inc.–Commissioner of Labor), 2015 NY Slip Op 05553, 3rd Dept 6-25-15