The Indiana Supreme Court ruled last month that a firm matching drivers to customers who needed large vehicles driven to them had correctly classified a driver as an independent contractor.

Its ruling clarified how the state’s three-prong ABC Test to determine independent contractor status should be applied, according to a post in The National Law Review by law firm Jackson Lewis.

A driver for the company in the lawsuit, Q.D.-A., filed for unemployment benefits, and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development found the company had misclassified him; he should have been an employee. The Indiana Court of Appeals later found the driver to be an independent contractor. The Indiana Supreme Court in a ruling Jan. 29 agreed the driver was an independent contractor.

In its ruling, the state’s Supreme Court court noted the Indiana Unemployment Compensation Act presumes a worker is an employee unless the employer can show (A) the worker is free from the employer’s control and direction, (B) the worker performs a service outside the usual course of the employer’s business and (C) the worker receives a commission or operates an independently established trade, occupation or profession.

The ruling said the driver signed an independent contractor agreement that allowed him to control his work, allowed him to provide drive-away services for any competing company and to hire his own-subcontractors. It also noted Q.D.-A. gave the driver no guidance and never evaluated or monitored him. The driver could refuse jobs with no repercussions, and he could also negotiate his one per-trip pay.

Q.D.-A. was also found to be a middleman matching drivers and clients and was not in the driving business itself.

The full opinion is online.