Jammal v. American Family Insurance Co.

The named plaintiffs in a suit under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a) represent several thousand current and former insurance agents for American Family Insurance and claim that American Family misclassified them as independent contractors, while treating them as employees, in order to avoid paying them benefits in compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Reversing the district court, the Sixth Circuit held American Family properly classified its agents as independent contractors. The court applied factors relating to the skill required of an agent and the hiring and paying of assistants; the district court correctly recognized that the agreement favored independent-contractor status but did not weigh this important component when reaching its conclusion. View "Jammal v. American Family Insurance Co." on Justia Law