Pukowsky v. Caruso6/9/1998
Submitted - May 19, 1998
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Atlantic County.
In this sexual harassment action brought under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -42, we focus on two issues: (1) whether plaintiff Joanne Pukowsky was an employee or an independent contractor in her relationship with defendant Joseph Caruso while working as a skating coach and teacher at his roller skating rink, defendant Parkway Skating Center (Parkway); and (2) whether an independent contractor, assuming that was the legal status of plaintiff, is protected by the LAD.
On defendants' motion pursuant to R. 4:37-2(b), the trial court entered a directed verdict against plaintiff at the close of her case on the ground that, accepting as true all evidence favoring her position, no reasonable jury could find that she was anything other than an independent contractor, to whom the protections of the LAD do not apply. Defendant Caruso's counterclaim, alleging slander and defamation of character, was voluntarily withdrawn without prejudice, pending the outcome of this appeal.
Plaintiff, who was an accomplished amateur roller skater, met Caruso in 1992. At the time, he was planning to open Parkway, and as his plans progressed, he approached plaintiff about managing the rink. She expressed interest, but in the meantime took a job as a part-time office manager at another business, occasionally meeting Caruso at his home to discuss the interior layout and color scheme of the proposed rink. Caruso eventually called plaintiff and told her that he had been in contact with his insurance carrier, which had informed him that it would not provide coverage for Parkway if plaintiff was named as manager, because she had no experience managing roller rinks. Instead, Caruso asked her to consider teaching skating classes at the rink. She was interested, but hesitated to commit to the idea.
However, after she was approached by eight people who were interested in taking lessons from her, plaintiff arranged to hold classes at Parkway when it opened. She decided to attempt to begin a career as a full-time skating coach. To finance this venture, she cashed in a $30,000 retirement account she had accumulated, receiving $23,000 after taxes and early withdrawal penalties. Plaintiff placed part of the money into a checking account in the name of "Free Skate Enterprises," through which she purchased the items she would need to teach skating classes, such as skating outfits, recording equipment, music tapes, and office supplies.
Parkway officially opened on March 23, 1993. Some months earlier, Caruso asked plaintiff to organize a grand opening ceremony. She agreed and arranged to have world-class skaters participate, created appropriate music tapes, and choreographed and organized a skating demonstration by Parkway Skating Club members, most of them children. The opening ceremony appears to have gone very well.
After the rink opened, plaintiff began giving private lessons to the eight students who had previously approached her, and she also joined with other instructors to teach group classes to young children. For the "tots'" classes, parents would pay club dues to Parkway, along with a fee of $1.00 per child, per lesson. The dues went to the rink, while the fees were paid to the rink manager, who would divide up the money among the instructors at the end of each class. For the private lessons, plaintiff was paid $12.00 per half hour. This fee was paid directly to plaintiff by her students, who paid an additional sum to Parkway for the use of the rink.
Over the course of several months, plaintiff's teaching
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