''United States v. Silk'', 331 U.S. 704 (1947), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case regarding

US labor law United States labor law sets the rights and duties for employees, labor unions, and employers in the United States. Labor law's basic aim is to remedy the "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers, especially employers "org ...

. The case concerned the scope of protection for employees under the Social Security Act 1935.

Background

The

Commissioner of Internal Revenue The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury. The office of Commissioner was created by Congress as part of the Revenue Act of 1862. Section ...

sued two businesses for employment taxes, one coal loading called Albert Silk Coal Co, run by Mr Silk in Topeka, Kansas, and one trucking, Greyvan Lines, Inc. The Commissioner said the taxes were due under the Social Security Act 1935, for employees of the business. In the ''Silk'' case, unloaders of coal provided their own tools, worked only when they wished, and were paid an agreed price for each ton of coal that they unloaded from railroad cars. In the ''Greyvan Lines'' case, truck drivers owned their own trucks, paid expenses for their operations, employed their own helpers and received payment on a piecework or percentage basis. The businesses argued that the coal loaders or the truck drivers providing work were independent contractors, and so not covered by social security taxes. In both cases, the District Court and the Circuit Court of Appeals had found that the coal loaders or truckers were independent contractors. The Commissioner had appealed.

Judgment

The Supreme Court held that the coal unloaders were ‘employees’ under the Social Security Act 1935. The same principles were to be applied as under the National Labor Relations Act, as elaborated in '' NLRB v Hearst Publications''. The truck drivers were not employees, but rather independent contractors. Reed J gave the Court's judgment.331 US 710-719 Black J, Douglas J and Murphy J concurred with the principles, but dissented on their application, stating they would have held the Greyvan truckers also to be employees. Rutledge J stated he would have remanded the case to the District Court to reconsider the position of the Greyvan truckers in light of the principles stated by the court.

References

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''United States v. Silk'', {{ussc, 331, 704, 1947, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/104447/united-states-v-silk/ , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8070359326325042640 , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/331/704/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep331/usrep331704/usrep331704.pdf United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Vinson Court United States labor case law Coal in the United States Precarious work 1947 in United States case law

Background

Judgment

See also

References

External links