BAILEY'S BAKERY, LTD. v. WILLIAM BORTHWICK, TAX COMMISSIONER OF THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII, 38 Haw. 16

Summary

The commissioner claimed that the bakery and its driver's had a relationship of employer and employee based on the services rendered by the drivers and the control that the bakery exercised over the drivers. The bakery claimed that the relationship it had with the drivers was one of vender and vendee and that the drivers were independent contractors. The court reversed the judgment, remanded to the trial court for a new trial, and stated that its opinion was only advisory. The court held that the trial court had failed to make complete fact findings, had made legal conclusion rather than findings, and the findings were therefore disregarded. The court then held that the test for determining the relationship between the drivers and the bakery was required to include more factors than just the control by the bakery and that based upon the evidence the relationship was not one of vender and vendee, but instead was master and servant. The court held that the drivers were providing a ...