Julaju drove a taxi on a part-time basis for El PalmarTaxi,Inc., usually only on Sundays and sometimes on Mondays. He workedan unrelated job on the remaining days of the week. Julaju wasgiven certain rules to follow-dress neatly, do not allow smoking inthe car, do not allow passengers in front unless absolutelynecessary, and ask the passengers to wear their seatbelts. All carsdriven for El Palmar had to be white and display the El Palmarlogo. Julaju had obtained his taxi license from the city by fillingout an application and giving it and the applicable fee to ElPalmar.Julaju further testified that when he was driving a taxi, hedid not have a set schedule and could work when he wanted and foras long as he wanted. While working, he drove either a car providedby El Palmarora car owned by another taxi driver. To obtain a farefrom El Palmar, Julaju would call the office to let them know hewas working and then wait for them to give him an address to picksomeone up. While he was waiting, Julaju was free to look for hisown fares. In the case in question, El Palmar sent Julaju to pickup Maria Lopez and her children. Julaju got into an accident, andLopez filed suit with El Palmar to recover damages. El Palmarargued it was not liable because Julaju was an independentcontractor.
[ Lopez v. El Palmar Taxi, Inc. , 297 Ga. App. 121; 676S.E.2d460 (2009).]
Do you think the court ruled that Julaju was an employeeor independent contractor?
