Keller's Investment
The next factor we weigh is whether the worker has made a significant capital investment. We have stated that "[ t ]he capital investment factor is most significant if it reveals that the worker performs a specialized service that requires a tool or application which he has mastered or that the worker is simply using implements of the [company] to accomplish the task." Brandel, 736 F.2d at 1119. Keller argues that we should consider his investment in comparison with Miri's investment. Other courts have compared the "worker's individual investment to the employer's investment in the overall operation." Baker, 137 F.3d at 1442 (citing Lauritzen, 835 F.2d at 1537); see also Hopkins v. Cornerstone Am, 545 F.3d 338, 344 (5th Cir. 2008) ("In applying the relative-investment factor, we compare each worker's individual investment to that of the alleged employer."); Dole v. Snell, 875 F.2d 802, 810 (10th Cir. 1989) ("[T]he 'investment' which must be considered as a factor is the amount of large capital expenditures, such as risk capital and capital investments, not negligible items, or labor itself. The relative investment of the [cake] decorators in their own tools compared with the investment of the [defendants] simply does not qualify as an investment in this business."); Doe v. Cin-Lan, Inc., No. 08-CV-12719, 2008 WL 4960170, at *13-14 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 20, 2008) ("As a result, this Court ... concludes that whatever the precise size of Doe's financial investment in her work may have been, it was minor enough in comparison with the overall costs of her business to suggest that she was an FLSA employee, and not an independent contractor."). We agree that courts must compare the worker's investment in the equipment to perform his job with the company's total investment, including office rental space, advertising, software, phone systems, or insurance. Hopkins, 545 F.3d at 344.
There is one additional wrinkle, however. When considering the worker's capital investment in the equipment needed to perform his job, we must consider those investments in light of the broader question: whether that capital investment is evidence of economic independence. Accordingly, there are inherently some capital investments that do not necessarily evidence economic independence. For example, "investment of a vehicle is no small matter, [but] that investment is somewhat diluted when one considers that the vehicle is also used.
