Is a Driver for a Messenger Service An Employee or An Independent Contractor ?

In Rozran v. Durkin, 381 Ill. 97, 45 N.E.2d 180 (1942), the supreme court found a driver for a messenger service to be an employee rather than an independent contractor. Rozran, 381 Ill. at 105. There, the driver used his own truck to make deliveries and he paid his own operating expenses. The driver was not required to report to the company at any particular time or on any particular day, and at times, he would receive directions for the pickup of packages by telephoning in to the office. Further, the driver was not required to make the deliveries in any particular manner, but was given packages to deliver to various locations in the Chicago metropolitan area. His territory, or assignment area, would differ from day to day. The court concluded that the driver's services were not performed outside of all the places of business of the messenger service because he in fact reported to the offices every day, received instructions from the dispatcher, secured the load for the truck on the premises, and returned collections and money received to the company office. Rozran, 381 Ill. at 104-05.