Re/Max of New Jersey, Inc. v. Wausau Insurance Companies

Re/Max of New Jersey, Inc. (Re/Max) (plaintiff), a business providing real estate services, engaged several real estate agents (the agents). The agents signed an independent-contractor agreement with Re/Max. Under the agreement, the agents were compensated entirely on a commission basis, receiving the entire commission for each sale. Agents set their own hours and did their own marketing within Re/Max rules. The agents paid Re/Max a monthly fee for the use of Re/Max’s offices and other costs, such as postage and advertising. Re/Max agents were required to meet certain quality standards, such as maintenance of their personal appearance and maintaining professional conduct. The agreement also permitted Re/Max the right to supervise and control each agent’s performance, and Re/Max had the right to fire an agent with cause. Further, New Jersey real estate agents were not permitted to collect commissions directly. Instead, New Jersey statutory law permitted only brokers such as Re/Max to collect a commission. Re/Max’s insurance carriers, Employers Insurance of Wausau, Aetna Life & Casualty, Travelers Insurance Company, New Jersey Re-Insurance Company, and Pennsylvania Insurance Company (collectively, the insurance carriers) (defendants), determined that Re/Max’s agents were employees rather than independent contractors and adjusted Re/Max’s premiums for workers’-compensation insurance accordingly. Re/Max sought a declaratory judgment to establish that the agents were independent contractors.