PARALEGAL IN SMALL LAW OFFICE ENTITLED TO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS.
The Third Department determined claimant, a paralegal in a small law office, was an employee entitled to unemployment insurance benefits:
… [C]laimant's work was assigned by the law office, he could not reassign his work to anyone, he was paid hourly and he was required to submit time sheets reflecting both client billable hours and administrative hours. Furthermore, claimant's work was reviewed by an attorney, any corrections were to be made by claimant, the law office was ultimately responsible for the work product, the law office supplied claimant with all of the equipment and material needed to perform the work and any expenses were reimbursed by the law office. In view of the foregoing, substantial evidence supports the Board's finding that the law office exercised sufficient control over claimant's work to establish an employer-employee relationship … . Matter of Kristensen (Law Offs. of David C. Birdoff–Commissioner of Labor), 2016 NY Slip Op 03035, 3rd Dept 4-21-16