Carrier entitled to workers' comp p. 27

By: Editorial Staff

A GIRL STRUCK by a car while delivering newspapers was an employee and entitled to workers' compensation as well as medical costs, a Nebraska appellate court has ruled.
Attorneys for the Fremont Tribune and the victim, Jennifer Larson, differed on whether last month's 3-0 ruling would affect the state's newspaper industry.
Tribune publisher Jim Holland said he expected the paper to ask the state Supreme Court to review the case.
The decision means Larson is entitled to $84.97 in weekly workers' compensation benefits and more than $1 million in medical costs, said her attorney, Steve Gerdes.
Larson was struck by a car in February 1991 while delivering papers near Cedar Bluffs. She was 12 years old at the time. Gerdes said Larson remains in a "persistent vegetative state."
Tribune attorney Joe Grant said the ruling has broad implications and could affect how Nebraska newspapers operate.
Gerdes disagreed, saying, "The court made it very clear that this is a very narrow ruling that is driven by the facts of this particular case."
Unlike laws in some other states, Nebraska law specifies neither that newspaper carriers are employees nor that they are independent contractors. The Appeals Court said whether a carrier is an employee or not centers on how much control a paper has over delivery people.
A Workers' Compensation Court judge initially ruled Larson was an employee of the paper, but a review panel reversed that order. Larson's parents took the case to the Appeals Court.
The Nebraska Press Association and Nebraska Daily Press Association joined the Tribune in arguing that paper carriers are independent contractors and thus not covered under workers' compensation law.
The Appeals Court said the Tribune gave its carriers a handbook with directions on delivering papers, and these statements "would support a finding that the Fremont Tribune kept control of all significant aspects of delivery."
Larson's father, David, brought the case against Hometown Communications Inc., which owns the Tribune.
Meanwhile, in Arkansas, a bill that would make paper carriers independent contractors and not employees was passed last month in the state Senate.
Present law says only carriers under 18 are exempt from the law.