TRIAL ADVOCATE
John Paddock

AGENCY
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment

CASE TYPE
Independent Contractor / Employee Classification Dispute

CLIENT
Expert Witness Firm; Court Reporting Agency; Interpreter Referral Service

ISSUES - Properly classifying people who provide personal services as “employees” or “independent contractors” can be very tricky, and there are serious consequences for companies who mistakenly treat workers as contractors when they should have been employees. In 2008 and 2009, John Paddock helped three different companies defeat actions against them based on the claim they had improperly classified people as independent contractors. One case involved a company that provides expert witnesses who support parties in lawsuits. John helped a firm of expert witnesses defeat the finding by an auditor for the Department of Labor that the firm improperly classified an independent contractor and helped the firm win the Department’s appeal. In the other cases, John helped the clients defeat claims by former contractors that they were really employees and were owed back wages, benefits and contributions to withholdings. These victories saved the clients significant damages and fines, and permitted them to continue operating their services on a competitive basis.

John can help businesses and professional practices determine whether they can properly use independent contractors and help them implement critical steps to minimize the possibility a judge or agency will find their contractors were really employees.