Felicia,

I was referred by an article that bore your name regarding independently contracted employees...

I am a contracted employee at a chiropractic office and a colleague of mine is having a tough time with this question.  She has been in a situation where someone has "suggested" (getting together) outside of a massage, but this someone has been a client of the chiropractor's for at least 2 years.  He had gotten her mobile phone number from her card and was calling her frequently.

At that point she told the  chiropractor(s), she didn't want to work on this someone/client but yet they still scheduled a massage with her.  She wants to know what her legalities are as an independent contractor...can you lead me to a website or something that would pass on information for her.  She is afraid that she will be fired over the whole matter regarding giving her phone number out and she hasn't been taken very seriously...

I would appreciate any advise you can give me to pass along to her. Thank you.

Concerned Therapist

Dear Concerned -

It seems there are a couple of problems with this situation that your friend is dealing with. The first is that the chiropractic office is scheduling a client that she feels uncomfortable with even though she has told them not to. Depending on how many staff members there are at the office and the laws of your particular state, this could be considered a type of sexual harassment (from the client) and the chiropractor could be held accountable for not protecting the staff member after it was reported. It is a little more hazy or complex since she is an independent contractor, but is certainly an issue that an employment law attorney is more qualified than I am to help with.

You could also tell your friend to visit the IRS web site (www.irs.gov) to determine  if she is really an independent contractor as well as that of the US Equal Opportunity Commission (http://www.eeoc.gov/) to better understand the US laws regarding harassment. Your state or local government may also have laws regarding this area of concern.

The second concern I see is that of giving out her contact information without consent of the chiropractor. According to your email it sounds like your friend's cell phone number was written on her card rather than printed. My questions for her would be 1) Why did you give him your number? 2) Was it to schedule appointments when the office was closed? 3) Was it done in a way that perhaps the client thought it was an invitation for these "suggestions"?

Whatever her answers, since she is an independent contractor, I would say the chiropractor really has no reason to be angry. ICs are supposed to maintain as much of the control over their work situation as possible, including communication with clients. That being said, someone who is legally supposed to be in control (your friend) may not have grounds to pursue any type of harassment protection. But an employment law attorney can answer any and all of these questions.

Hope that is of some help to you and your friend. Best of luck to you both.

Felicia