Marcum v. State of Vermont Agency of Human Services

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the Vermont Agency of Human Services, holding that a nurse providing Medicaid-funded home-care services was not an employee or statutory employee of the Agency for workers’ compensation purposes. The court applied the nature-of-the-business test and concluded that the Agency administered and funded a Medicaid program but did not provide or control the nursing services.

Holdings

1. The Agency was not Marcum's employer or statutory employer because Marcum was not hired to perform the Agency's regular trade, business, or occupation. The Agency administered a Medicaid welfare program, while Marcum provided nursing care.
2. The right-to-control-the-work test did not establish an employment relationship because the Agency exercised no control over Marcum's provision of home care, and Vermont's preferred test is whether the work formed part of the putative employer's business.
3. Summary judgment for the Agency was proper because the undisputed facts established that Marcum was not the Agency's employee or statutory employee.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Marcum was an employee or statutory employee of the Vermont Agency of Human Services under Vermont's Workers' Compensation Act when she was injured.
2. Whether the Agency's alleged influence over the details of Marcum's work made it her employer under a right-to-control test.
3. Whether Marcum's workers' compensation claim was time-barred; the trial court did not reach this issue because it found that she was not a state employee.

Disposition

affirmed