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Music Teachers Were Employees Entitled to Unemployment Insurance Benefits—Criteria for Professionals, Like Musicians, Who Do Not Lend Themselves to Direct Supervision or Control, Explained

The Third Department determined music teachers were employees of Encore Music, a service which connected students with teachers for a portion of the fees paid by the students.  Encore unsuccessfully argued the teachers were independent contractors:

…”[W]here the details of the work performed are difficult to control because of considerations such as professional . . . responsibilities,” courts have applied the “‘overall control'” test, which requires that the employer exercise control over “‘important aspects of the services performed'” …, a test which has been applied to musicians who “do not easily lend themselves to direct supervision or control” … . Further, “an organization which screens the services of professionals, pays them at a set rate and then offers their services to clients exercises sufficient control to create an employment relationship” … .

…Encore screened the teachers, checked their references, conducted criminal background checks and then matched students to teachers based upon a variety of factors, including qualifications. Encore thereafter followed up with the students after lessons to ensure that they were satisfied. Encore set the lesson fees, which were generally the same for all teachers with some exceptions, billed students directly and paid teachers regardless of whether the students paid Encore. Although teachers used their own equipment, determined the lesson plans or methods and could decline students, they were required to sign a contract that provided that they would, “when reasonably requested by [Encore], act as a music lesson instructor.” The contract also contained a clause prohibiting teachers from soliciting Encore’s students that was in effect during the contract and for three years after its expiration, although teachers were allowed to work for competitors and to have their own private students. Matter of Encore Music Lessons LLC (Commissioner of Labor), 2015 NY Slip Op 04553, 3rd Dept 5-28-15

 

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Sales Rep Was an Employee Entitled to Unemployment Insurance Benefits

The Third Department determined a cellular phone sales representative was an employee entitled to unemployment insurance benefits:

Whether an employer-employee relationship exists within the meaning of the unemployment insurance law “is a factual issue for the Board to resolve and its decision will be upheld if supported by substantial evidence” … . “While no single factor is determinative, control over the results produced or the means used to achieve those results are pertinent considerations, with the latter being more important” …. .

… The record establishes that Cellular Sales precluded sales representatives from selling competing products and its products outside of the “territory” absent its prior written consent, suggested, and in certain instances required, that products be sold at a minimum price, set sales goals for the sales representatives to attain and provided a script that sales representatives were to “[s]tick to . . . on every customer opportunity” regarding a certain cellular phone. In addition, Cellular Sales specified a certain dress code and provided that any sales representative not meeting such dress code in its store would be “address[ed]” by a leader. Cellular Sales also required sales representatives to, among other things, complete certain mandatory training that it paid for, to “strictly comply” with its directives regarding use, disclosure and application of marketing information and to know and follow certain “procedures for the market.” …[T]he record establishes that Cellular Sales dictated the number of sales representatives that would work in the store on a given day, provided each sales representative with a Cellular Sales email address and business cards, required, for a certain period of time, that sales representatives send customers thank you cards that it provided and supplied the sales representatives with products for demonstrations. The record also indicates that Cellular Sales reprimanded sales representatives regarding tardiness, held mandatory meetings, required sale representatives who chose to work in the store to submit their availability and requests for days off and, once a shift was assigned, required a sales representative to secure coverage if he or she could not work on the assigned shift. Matter of Pratt (Cellular Sales of N.Y., LLC–Commissioner of Labor), 2015 NY Slip Op 04549, 3rd Dept 5-28-15

 

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Open Question About Whether Claimant Was Permanently Disabled Indicated Claimant’s Case Was Not Truly Closed in 2005—Transfer of Claim to the Special Fund (for Closed Cases) Properly Denied

The Third Department determined open questions about whether the claimant was permanently disabled demonstrated that claimant’s case was not truly closed in 2005.  Therefore transfer of the claim to the Special Fund was not warranted:

“Workers’ Compensation Law § 25-a shifts liability for a claim to the Special Fund where a workers’ compensation case that was fully closed is reopened more than seven years after the underlying injury occurred and more than three years after the last payment of compensation” … . “Whether there has been a true closing of the case is a factual issue for the Board to resolve and its determination in this regard will be upheld if supported by substantial evidence” … .

Here, a report based upon an independent medical examination of claimant was filed with the Board in 2005 in which the examiner opined that claimant had reached maximum medical improvement at that time and classified her as suffering from a mild degree of disability. Inasmuch as this report raised the issue of claimant having a permanent disability, which remained unresolved in 2011 when the employer requested that liability shift to the Special Fund, substantial evidence supports the Board’s decision that the case was not truly closed at that time and Workers’ Compensation Law § 25-a did not apply … . Matter of Kettavong v Livingston County SNF, 2015 NY Slip Op 04556, 3rd Dept 5-28-15

 

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Grandparents Did Not Have Standing to Bring a Petition for Visitation

The Second Department determined Family Court properly dismissed the grandparents’ petition for visitation with the grandchildren without a hearing. Family Court properly determined the grandparents did not have standing to bring the petition because no triable issues of fact were raised in the submitted papers. The standing question is determined by applying equitable principles re: the nature of the grandparents’ relationship with the children and the nature and basis of the parents’ objection to visitation:

When a grandparent seeks visitation pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 72(1), the court must make a two-part inquiry” … . “First, it must find that the grandparent has standing, based on, inter alia, equitable considerations” … . “If it concludes that the grandparent has established standing to petition for visitation, then the court must determine if visitation is in the best interests of the child” … .

“In considering whether a grandparent has standing to petition for visitation based upon circumstances show[ing] that conditions exist which equity would see fit to intervene’ (Domestic Relations Law § 72[1]), an essential part of the inquiry is the nature and extent of the grandparent-grandchild relationship,’ among other factors” … . Additionally, the court must consider ” the nature and basis of the parents’ objection to visitation'” … . “A hearing to determine the issue of standing is not necessary where there are no triable issues of fact raised in the submitted papers” … .

Here, the Family Court properly denied the grandparents’ petition for visitation and dismissed the proceeding, without a hearing, based on their lack of standing. The Family Court, considering all of the relevant circumstances of this case, properly found that this is not a matter in which it would be equitable to confer standing upon the grandparents … . Matter of Moskowitz v Moskowitz, 2015 NY Slip Op 04490, 2nd Dept 5-27-15

 

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Ambiguity Should Have Been Resolved Against the Insurer

Reversing Supreme Court, the Second Department determined the ambiguity in the supplemental underinsured motorist (SUM) endorsement about whether a snowmobile was a covered “motor vehicle” should have been resolved against the insurer. “We find that the policy, when read as a whole, is ambiguous as to whether the term “motor vehicle” in the SUM endorsement refers to the snowmobile, the only vehicle covered by the policy. Contrary to State Farm’s contention and the Supreme Court’s determination, this ambiguity must be resolved ‘against the insurer and in favor of coverage’ … , without reference to the definition of ‘motor vehicle’ set forth in the Vehicle and Traffic Law.”  Matter of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v Jones, 2015 NY Slip Op 04493, 2nd Dept 5-27-15

 

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The Amount of Alcohol Consumed by Defendant and the Extent of His Intoxication at the Time of the Vehicle-Accident Evinced “Wanton and Reckless” Conduct Which Supported a Punitive-Damages Award

The Second Department determined the award of punitive damages by the jury was supported by clear and convincing evidence.  Defendant was intoxicated at the time of the vehicle accident.  The fact that defendant was driving while intoxicated would not, standing alone, warrant punitive damages. However, other factors, including defendant’s high blood-alcohol level and his “incoherence” at the time of the accident evinced the requisite “wanton and reckless” conduct:

Whereas compensatory damages are intended to assure that the victim receives “fair and just compensation commensurate with the injury sustained,” punitive damages are meant to “punish the tortfeasor and to deter this wrongdoer and others similarly situated from indulging in the same conduct in the future” … . Evidence that a defendant was driving while intoxicated is insufficient, standing alone, to justify the imposition of punitive damages … . However, driving while intoxicated may support an award for punitive damages where there is additional evidence that the defendant engaged in “wanton and reckless” conduct evincing heedlessness and an utter disregard for the safety of others … . Chiara v Dernago, 2015 NY Slip Op 04444, 2nd Dept 5-27-15

 

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Question of Fact Whether Plaintiff Was Fraudulently Induced to Sign a Release—Relevant Law Explained

The Second Department determined plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact concerning whether plaintiff was fraudulently induced to sign a release re: a potential personal-injury action. The release was signed three days after the accident when the plaintiff was still on pain medication and it was alleged the insurance adjuster told her the offered funds were for plaintiff’s “inconvenience” and not to compensate for her injuries.  The court explained relevant law:

” A release is a contract, and its construction is governed by contract law'” … . “Generally, a valid release that is clear and unambiguous on its face constitutes a complete bar to an action on a claim which is the subject of the release absent fraudulent inducement, fraudulent concealment, misrepresentation, mutual mistake or duress'” … .

“A signed release shifts the burden of going forward . . . to the [plaintiff] to show that there has been fraud, duress or some other fact which will be sufficient to void the release'” … . “A plaintiff seeking to invalidate a release due to fraudulent inducement must establish the basic elements of fraud, namely a representation of a material fact, the falsity of that representation, knowledge by the party who made the representation that it was false when made, justifiable reliance by the plaintiff, and resulting injury'” … . Moreover, there is a requirement that a release covering both known and unknown injuries be ” fairly and knowingly made'” … . Powell v Adler, 2015 NY Slip Op 04466, 2nd Dept 5-27-15

 

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Promissory Note Reflecting a Loan to a Limited Liability Company Was Criminally Usurious As Well As Void Under the General Obligations Law—Provision Purporting to Reduce the Interest Rate to a Non-Usurious Rate If the Original Rate Were Found to be Usurious Did Not Save the Note

The Second Department determined a promissory note imposing an annual interest rate of more than 25% (60% here) was criminally usurious (Penal Law 190.40) and could not be saved by a provision purporting to reduce the interest rate to a non-usurious rate if the original rate were found to be usurious. The court noted that, although a limited liability company (the defendant here) cannot assert the defense of civil usury, a limited liability company can assert the defense of criminal usury.  In addition, the note was void under General Obligations Law 5-511 because the interest rate exceeded 16%. Fred Schutzman Co. v Park Slope Advanced Med., PLLC, 2015 NY Slip Op 04447, 2nd Dept 5-27-15

 

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Application for Area Variances Properly Denied—Court’s Review Criteria Explained—General City Law and Town Law Criteria for Area Variance Explained

The Second Department determined the city zoning board properly denied the application for area variances.  The court explained its role in reviewing the board’s determination and the criteria applied to applications for area variances under the General City Law and the Town Law:

” Local zoning boards have broad discretion in considering applications for variances, and judicial review is limited to determining whether the action taken by the board was illegal, arbitrary, or an abuse of discretion'” … . “Therefore, a zoning board’s determination should be sustained if it is not illegal, has a rational basis, and is not arbitrary and capricious” … .

In determining whether to grant an application for an area variance, a zoning board must engage in a balancing test weighing “the benefit to the applicant if the variance is granted . . . against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant” (General City Law § 81-b[4][b];… see also Town Law § 267-b[3]). The zoning board must also consider: “(i) whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance; (ii) whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance; (iii) whether the requested area variance is substantial; (iv) whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district; and (v) whether the alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the board of appeals, but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance” (General City Law § 81-b[4][b]…). Matter of Goodman v City of Long Beach, 2015 NY Slip Op 04484, 2nd Dept 5-27-15

 

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Application for Area Variance Properly Denied—Analytical Criteria Described

The Second Department determined the village zoning board properly denied petitioner’s application for an area variance by considering all of the required factors enumerated in Village Law 7-712-b(3): “When determining whether to grant an application for an area variance, a Village zoning board of appeals, pursuant to Village Law § 7-712-b(3), must engage in a balancing test weighing the benefit to the applicant against the detriment to the health, safety, and welfare of the neighborhood or community if the variance is granted” … . A Village board of zoning appeals must also consider “whether (1) an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood, or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance, (2) the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some other method, other than an area variance, feasible for the applicant to pursue, (3) the required area variance is substantial, (4) the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district, and (5) the alleged difficulty was self created” … . Matter of Affordable Homes of Long Is., LLC v Monteverde, 2015 NY Slip Op 04480, 2nd Dept 5-27-15

 

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