Opinion
525530
11-15-2018
In the MATTER OF the Claim of Rodney L. SMITH, Respondent. Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc., Doing Business as Press & Sun Bulletin, Appellant. v. Commissioner of Labor, Respondent.
Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, Syracuse (Daniel J. Pautz of counsel) and The Zinser Law Firm, Nashville, Tennessee (L. Michael Zinser admitted pro hac vice), for appellant. Barbara D. Underwood, Attorney General, New York City (Steven Koton of counsel), for respondent.
Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, Syracuse (Daniel J. Pautz of counsel) and The Zinser Law Firm, Nashville, Tennessee (L. Michael Zinser admitted pro hac vice), for appellant.
Barbara D. Underwood, Attorney General, New York City (Steven Koton of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Egan Jr., J.P., Clark, Mulvey, Aarons and Pritzker, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Mulvey, J.
Appeals from two decisions of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, filed May 4, 2017, which ruled, among other things, that Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. was liable for unemployment insurance contributions on remuneration paid to claimant and others similarly situated.
Claimant contracted with Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. to deliver newspapers pursuant to written distribution agreements. Following claimant's application for unemployment insurance benefits, the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board ruled that claimant was an employee of Gannett Satellite and assessed the business for additional unemployment insurance contributions on remuneration paid to claimant and others similarly situated. These appeals ensued.
We affirm. Upon our review of the record, we find that the indicia of control retained by Gannett Satellite in the contracts with claimant are nearly identical to the relevant factors identified to establish an employment relationship in Matter of Armison (Gannett Co., Inc.-Commissioner of Labor) , 122 A.D.3d 1101, 1102, 995 N.Y.S.2d 856 (2014), lv dismissed 24 N.Y.3d 1209, 4 N.Y.S.3d 590, 28 N.E.3d 24 (2015) and Matter of Hunter (Gannett Co., Inc.-Commissioner of Labor) , 125 A.D.3d 1166, 1167, 3 N.Y.S.3d 195 (2015). As such, we find that substantial evidence supports the Board's decisions, and they will not be disturbed (see Matter of Race [Gannett Satellite Info. Network, Inc.-Commissioner of Labor] , 128 A.D.3d 1130, 1130, 6 N.Y.S.3d 504 [2015] ; Matter of Travis [Gannett Satellite Info. Network, Inc.-Commissioner of Labor] , 127 A.D.3d 1349, 1349, 5 N.Y.S.3d 623 [2015] ; Matter of Gager [Gannett Satellite Info. Network, Inc.-Commissioner of Labor] , 127 A.D.3d 1348, 1348–1349, 4 N.Y.S.3d 784 [2015] ). We have reviewed the remaining contentions raised by Gannett Satellite and find them to be unpersuasive.
Egan Jr., J.P., Clark, Aarons and Pritzker, JJ., concur.
ORDERED that the decisions are affirmed, without costs.