WWYD: Client's farrier makes me uncomfortable

You have a contract with your farrier? Wow. Mine comes out when I call him. He is not under contract. What are the terms of your contract?

Just because someone is self employed does not make them an independent contractor. If the horse owner has a contract with the farrier, then you are correct, he cannot be “fired,” they must fulfill the terms of the contract. But I seriously doubt they have a contract, so he CAN be fired.

No, but the barn owner has to weigh the consequences of barring a farrier from the property who does a number of horses on the property, which forces the owners and trainer who use him to have to find another farrier on short notice. And I’m sure they all want to hop into the trailer and haul out somewhere else (A WIDE SPOT IN THE ROAD - REALLY??? ) to have their horses done every 4-6 weeks during peak competition season.

Have a conversation with the farrier over what he said before any knee-jerk reaction.

I have a verbal agreement to pay her $60 to show my horse on a certain date. She uses her own tools and has other clients and does her own scheduling. That makes her an independent contractor. I can choose not to renew the contract by not scheduling future appointments but I can’t fire her.

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Ah, yes self reflection…A thing most don’t want to engage in for fear of what they will see.

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If you truly hired your farrier as an independent contractor you are 1099ing him or her every year.

Your “verbal agreement” to shoe the horse on a certain date is not a contract, it’s an appointment. That’s like making a hair appointment or dental appointment. It’s not a verbal contract. Now if you were a barn owner or trainer and had a specific farrier doing the whole barn and you paid him and collected from the clients, it would be an independent contractor relationship because the money flowed through you. Just because you pay someone for a service and they are self employed does not mean that there is an independent contractor relationship.

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Sorry, I took “run shrieking” literally, or to mean over-reacting. You want to remain in control of yourself, (as much as possible), because if the perpetrator knows they’ve upset you, they’ve won. As you stated, a firm, loud voice is a better response.

If it is over $600 I am legally supposed to as an LLC, yes.

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FYI…To clarify “contractor vs employee” & “1099”…one needs to go to the IRS guidance.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small…ractor-defined

People such as doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, accountants, contractors, subcontractors, public stenographers, or auctioneers who are in an independent trade, business, or profession in which they offer their services to the general public are generally independent contractors. However, whether these people are independent contractors or employees depends on the facts in each case.

In a nutshell…if you need to issue a 1099…
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/am-i-required-to-file-a-form-1099-or-other-information-return

If, as part of your trade or business, you made any of the following types of payments, use the link to be directed to information on filing the appropriate information return.

Note that the key statement is that the expense is as part of your trade or business,

So…if you paid your lawyer, beautician, accountant, doctor, farrier…etc…more than $600 for personal services, you don’t need to file a 1099.

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^^^Correct. That is tax advice for business owners who use independent contractors, employees etc. and correct.

For the general public who utilize the service of people who are self employed, you don’t need to 1099 them every time you spend over $600 a year. Did you 1099 the small auto repair guy who is in business for himself? They guy who built your deck/patio? The guy who plowed your driveway the winter we got tons of snow? Your hairdresser?

The term “independent contractor” refers to a business relationship between a business that provides products and services, and a person who is usually providing labor to that business and is self-employed. “Independent contractor” does not describe every single person who is self employed.

@hosspuller that’s easy for you to say bc id bet the barn you didn’t spend a significant portion of your life fielding unwanted and invasive comments about your body and sex life from MEN, most of which were physically larger and stronger than you.

Next time youre alone in a barn with a man you barely know, who’s twice your size and strength, and he starts making comments about wanting to fuck you, go ahead and stand your ground instead of trying to find a safe space.

Have some empathy for other humans.

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I am a 5’, 115lb, blonde female working in oil and gas for the last 5+ years. Needless to say, sexual comments fly constantly.

I’m with hosspuller. Draw your own line. The alternative is to “run shrieking” and ultimately be seen as the problem causer (ie, groom has not been working there long, has not earned her stripes, and is now making a harassment claim). NOTE: this does not make it right or wrong, but it is the FACT of how the situation will be perceived.

One comment does not deserve a run crying response. It deserves a “hey, dude, STFU. What the F is wrong with you? Who do you think you’re talking to? Don’t ever say that to me again.” You need to learn to stand up for yourself in situations like this OP. Get loud if you have to. Make the little turd blush.

If he had tried to touch you, that’s different. But he made a BS comment that should have been handled abruptly and killed right then and there. Now, deal with him coldly. “Fluffy needs a reset next week. Let me know date/time you’ll be out. Thx.”

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I agree - and I’m a tiny person myself.

Making young women believe that they’re perennial victims that need to be protected from anything at all “uncomfortable” is condescending and paternalistic. It’s NOT empowering, and, in the long run, it’s not even kind.

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Kinda sounds like almost like a throwback to Victorian times…

Am in 100% agreement with this and endlessclimb’s statements…from an old fart that spent +30 years climbing around petrochemical plants…and working graveyard shifts.

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Very much so!

I teach in a small rural university, and see this every day of the week - and, believe me, it’s not making women and girls stronger in any way whatsoever; quite the opposite, in fact.

I have an (honest) question… Way back in my life in the corporate world when we all first had to start taking yearly sexual harassment training, we were told that if someone said something inappropriate to us, we should let them know it was inappropriate, unappreciated and to stop immediately. That way they could amend their actions. If they didn’t, we should report to management/hr. Is this not still the case? IOW, is it now that the first comment that offends you (and yes, the OP’s was offensive) grounds to go to management without addressing the offender directly? That seems a bit dicey.

As for the comments about black people… completely unacceptable and ignorant. I’d have probably have told him he was an ignorant, racist sh!t and not to speak to me again. People who feel free to make those kind of utterly ridiculous statements are dug in and are unlikely to change their views.

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Nope, you are absolutely not obligated to confront harassers and absolutely are supposed to report to hr immediately so documentation can begin. you can of course tell the jerk to stop, but this should be accompanied by reporting to hr whose job it actually is to enforce workplace conduct.

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I worked overseas for 4 years. If I didn’t handle it myself, I would not have been able to do my job because HR doesn’t really have control of a Turkish/Russian/Chinese/South Korean/Vietnamese/Taiwanese/Spanish/Jordanian/Thai/etc subcontractor.

It’s a bull$h*t comment, to be handled abruptly and briskly by the individual. If they feel so offended as to report it to a superior, so be it, but it could just as easily be squashed by heading it off and killing it on the spot.

Maybe it’s an ‘attitude’ thing. No one messes with me more than once because I’m not scared to make a scene about it. I’ve worked manual labor since I could walk because my family owns a manufacturing facility and I was expected to help out. Different people may not have that innate ability because they were not raised that way. For me, it comes as second nature, and I was expected to defend myself from the start. My dad didn’t want to hear any lip from his girls about working on a shop floor, so we handled issues ourselves.

shrug Do as you will OP. Suggest NOT growing a “thicker spine”, rather, learning how to quick and effectively handle situations such as this in the future without staying silent, but without needing a hand holding either.

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Bravo! Couldn’t have said it better.

It is not about “growing a spine”…it is about learning to defuse rude and offensive behavior…that can happen anywhere, not necessarily at work.

I was in the corporate world for longer than I care to think…and all the guidance to “Go to HR” is just corporate-speak to keep the corporation out of legal hot water. Google Texaco law suit.

I went thru all the corporate “men and women working as colleagues” training. Yup. It just taught the men how to cover their legal asses and just sent the real overt behavior underground.

My first job out of engineer school was working in a labor crew whose breakfast beverage of choice was Colt-45.

It is incumbent of each and every woman to set the line of what is appropriate behavior around them. That is personal power about what you will allow. It is a power that you carry with you wherever you are.

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Isn’t it funny how the onus still remains on the harassed rather than on the harasser? Like the harassed just need to deal with it, not jerks need to be better damn human beings without requiring “schooling”.

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Because you cannot change someone, but you can change yourself and the way you react.

I don’t see the comments about how to deal with the situation as negative. Yes, we all need to learn how to deal with it. The better we become at it, the more we are in power of the situation and the better we will get through it.

Yes, the harasser needs some schooling, but the harassed one needs to be prepared and ready « to fight back » when a moron act as one.

The first way to protect ourselves against someone like that is to say something. It’s not easy, but like with everything, practice makes perfect.

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