Watson v. Hecla Mining Co.

Citations

• 79 Wash. 383
• 140 P. 317
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1169

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant — Existence op Relation — “Independent Contractors.” An independent contractor is one wbo exercises an independent employment and represents bis employer only as to tbe results of bis work, and tbe operation of tbe rule is not qualified by tbe employer’s reservation of tbe right to supervise tbe work for tbe purpose of determining whether it is being done in accordance with tbe contract.</p> <p>Evidence — Parol Evidence — To Vary Writing — Application op Rule. Tbe rule prohibiting tbe introduction of oral evidence to contradict or modify a written contract employing an independent contractor, does not apply against an injured servant wbo was not a party to tbe contract.</p> <p>Master and Servant — Existence of Relation — Independent Contractor — Question for Jury. Whether the relation of independent contractor exists is a question for the jury, where it appears that a mining company was to furnish power drills, pumps, lights, and timbers, and to deliver them at the 1,200 foot level, to one who agreed to sink a shaft 300 feet at a specified price per foot, doing the work in a workmanlike manner, it was the duty of the company’s head carpenter to determine from time to time whether the work was being properly done, the company was to pay the men on the pay roll through its office, and a workman previously working for the dompany was directed by his former shift boss to go to work on the shaft, and testified that he was not employed by the contractor.</p> <p>Appeal — Preservation of Grounds — Exceptions. Error cannot be predicated upon an instruction to which no exception was taken.</p>