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RAMIRO RODRIGUEZ v. E.D. CONSTRUCTION, INC., ET AL. (AC 31115)
Bishop, Lavine and Foti, Js. Argued October 26, 2010--officially released February 22, 2011

(Appeal from workers' compensation review board.) James T. Baldwin, with whom, on the brief, was Marisa F. Schafer, for the appellant (plaintiff). Robert Sciglimpaglia, Jr., for the appellee (named defendant). Lisa Guttenberg Weiss, assistant attorney general, for the appellee (defendant second injury fund).

Opinion

FOTI, J. The plaintiff, Ramiro Rodriguez, appeals from the decision of the workers' compensation review board (board) affirming the decision of the workers' compensation commissioner (commissioner) to dismiss his claim for benefits for injuries he suffered in an accident while installing a roof for the defendant E.D. Construction, Inc.1 On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the board improperly affirmed the commissioner's finding that he was not an employee of the defendant at the time of the accident.2 We affirm the decision of the board. The following facts and procedural history are relevant to this appeal. On June 14, 2003, the plaintiff was in the process of installing a rubber roof in Norwalk. During that installation, he attempted to dry with a torch the moist plywood foundation on which the rubber roof was to be adhered. Unbeknownst to the plaintiff, the plywood had been previously treated with a highly flammable adhesive, and his use of the torch produced an explosion and a fire. As a result, the plaintiff was engulfed in flames and fell from the two-story roof. Tragically, the plaintiff suffered life threatening burns to over 90 percent of his body, resulting in the amputation of his right arm and limiting the use of his left arm. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits with the commissioner for the seventh district. The plaintiff claimed that at the time of the accident, he was an employee of the defendant, the roofing company that contracted to install the roof. The defendant denied compensability. Specifically, the owner of the defendant, Edward Devingo, asserted that he hired the plaintiff as a subcontractor to install the roof.3 Over the course of two years, the commissioner held nine formal hearings during which extensive evidence was introduced by both parties. In support of his claim that he was an employee of the defendant, the plaintiff testified that on the date of the accident, he was being paid $20 per hour by the defendant, that he was trained in the roofing trade by the defendant, that the defendant provided tools on his roofing jobs and provided transportation to and from work sites and that Devingo governed the manner of work at each of the various job sites. He also testified that although he was able to speak and to understand English ``[a] little bit,'' his primary language was Spanish, and under no circumstances was he able to read or to write English. As a result, the plaintiff testified, he was unaware of, and did not understand, the consequences of executing certain documents in which he acknowledged that he was excluded from coverage under the Workers' Compensation Act (act), General Statutes

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