By Bob Mackin | Prince George Citizen
The vice-chair of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT) determined a guide driver injured in a November 2018 crash on the Alaska Highway was not covered by WorkSafeBC.
Troy Victor Proctor, the sole owner of Overflow Pilot and Hot Shot Services Ltd. (Overflow), was subcontracted to Misty Day’s Pilot and Hotshot Ltd. (Misty) to guide an oversized load to Edmonton. Proctor’s vehicle, a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, was rear-ended on the highway in South Taylor by a 2017 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by defendant Jeffrey Wade Giesbrecht. The programmer employed by CDN Controls Ltd. was travelling from his employer’s office in Fort St. John to another company’s office in Dawson Creek.
Proctor, who had a verbal agreement with Misty’s and had worked with the company for nearly a year, was driving at half the posted speed limit. He was using hazard lights, brake lights and signal lights on the back of his truck and flashers on the pilot sign.
“The plaintiff had his own vehicle and equipment, took his own jobs for potential profit or loss, contracted with multiple firms, had his own insurance and licensing, handled his own paperwork and taxes, and other such matters,” wrote WCAT’s Herb Morton. “The defendant acknowledged that there was no employment relationship between the plaintiff and Misty.”
Proctor was not paying Workers’ Compensation Board premiums at the time, but believed he was covered under Misty’s. He did not make a claim for benefits for his injuries in the crash, but Overflow registered with WorkSafeBC on Jan. 1, 2019.
“I find that at the time of the accident, the plaintiff was not a worker within the meaning of the compensation provisions of the Act,” Morton concluded. “It necessarily follows that any injury suffered by the plaintiff in the Nov. 22, 2018 accident did not arise out of and in the course of employment within the scope of the compensation provisions of the Act.”
Morton said Proctor was responsible for the failure to register Overflow as an employer with the board, as he was carrying on business like an independent operator.
A civil trial between Morton and Giesbrecht is scheduled for Aug. 11.
