Taylor v. Eastern Connection Operating, Inc.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
465 Mass. 191 (2013)
- Written by Serena Lipski, JD
Facts
Judith Ann Taylor, Gardner Taylor, and Donald Wellington (collectively, the couriers) (plaintiffs) were New York residents who worked as couriers for Eastern Connection Operating, Inc. (Eastern) (defendant), which was headquartered in Massachusetts. The couriers were under contract with Eastern to provide package-pickup and package-delivery services exclusively in New York. The contract, which contained a Massachusetts choice-of-law clause, provided that the couriers were independent contractors rather than employees. The couriers filed an action against Eastern in Massachusetts state court, claiming that Eastern had misclassified them as independent contractors. Eastern argued that New York law applied, and the couriers did not qualify as employees under New York’s narrower definition of employee. The trial court agreed and dismissed the couriers’ complaint. The couriers appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lenk, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.