Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 60254-7-II Published Opinion.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 60254-7-II Published Opinion.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/D2%2060254-7-II%20Published%20Opinion.pdf ↗

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onsite employees, providing employee benefits, and discharging or terminating onsite employees.

Rho, 113 Wn.2d at 573. The AMC Employee Handbook makes clear that AMC considers itself

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No. 60254-7-II

the employer of the onsite employees. And, as discussed above, payment of onsite employee

payroll falls within AMC’s “business” or its services of property management.

Further, the PMA explicitly provides that AMC is the employer of the onsite employees

and disclaims a general agency relationship between AMC and the Owners. While the onsite

employee wages are paid from the Owners’ operating accounts, AMC—not the Owners—is still

the party responsible for paying those wages. William Rogers Co., 148 Wn.2d at 179. Section 8.2

of the PMA states: “All wages, fringe benefits, and all other forms of compensation payable to, or

for the benefit of, employees of the Project . . . shall be paid by [AMC] from Owner’s funds.” CP

at 362 (emphasis added). This is consistent with section 4.3 of the PMA, which also explicitly

states AMC is responsible for paying the onsite employees. As previously discussed, there is no

contract between the onsite employees and the Owners. Thus, based on the record, AMC cannot

be said to be simply an agent of the Owners; AMC possesses more than “solely agent liability” for

the onsite employee wages. Rho, 113 Wn.2d at 567.

Because the record shows that AMC is the employer of the onsite employees and that it is

liable for onsite employee wages, AMC has failed to establish an agency relationship. Because

AMC fails to establish an agency relationship, Rule 111 does not apply, and we need not address