Steven R. Rowland: Litigation & Dispute Resolution Attorney

Steven R. Rowland recently completed a trial before the Office of Administrative Law involving an allegation from the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development that owner-operators of large trucks had been inappropriately classified as independent contractors.

The New Jersey Unemployment Compensation law exempts services provided by the drivers of large trucks from its broad statutory test of employment — the so-called ABC test — and instead uses a narrower common law test. The dispute presented the legal issue of which test applies — the broad ABC Test or the narrower common law test — and how the applicable test applied to the facts of the case.

A decision from the OAL is expected in July.