Defendant entered into a written agreement for plaintiff to provide inspection services on its behalf to the Los Angeles Unified School District. When defendant terminated the relationship because plaintiff failed to sign a new contract and refused to provide various documents that were requested, plaintiff sued for damages under various theories, arguing that he was an employee of defendant?s rather than an independent contractor.
Plaintiff based his argument on a clause in the written agreement that read, ?The employee or [defendant] may terminate with or without cause and with or without notice employment At-Will at any time. Nothing in this agreement or in any document statement shall limit the right to terminate At-Will employment.? The court rejected plaintiff?s claim that this single clause transformed the independent contractor relationship into an employment relationship, stating that, "[I]f it did, independent contractor arrangements could only be established through agreements which limited the right of a party, or perhaps both parties, to terminate the agreement. This would be absurd, and it is not the law."

Varisco v. Gateway Science and Engineering, Inc., 166 Cal. App. 4th 1099 (2008).

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