The North Carolina Supreme Court has temporarily put the brakes on an appeals court decision that had upset years of workers’ compensation case law on when a moonlighting law officer is considered an independent contractor.
In the case of Stephen Lassiter vs. Robeson County Sheriff’s Department, the state Court of Appeals in December overruled the state’s Industrial Commission. The appeals court found that Lassiter’s injuries, sustained while he was working traffic control for a private company, are the responsibility of both the sheriff and Truesdell Corp.