United States v. Silk, 331 U.S. 704 (1947), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding US labor law. The case concerned the scope of protection for employees under the Social Security Act 1935.
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue sued two businesses for employment taxes: one coal-loading company, Albert Silk Coal Co., run by Mr. Silk in Topeka, Kansas, and one trucking company, Greyvan Lines, Inc. The Commissioner said the taxes were due under the Social Security Act of 1935 for the business's employees. In the Silk case, coal unloaders provided their own tools, worked only when they wished, and were paid an agreed-upon price for each ton of coal they unloaded from railroad cars. In the Greyvan Lines case, truck drivers owned their own trucks, paid their own operating expenses, 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 therefore not subject to 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.
The Supreme Court held that the coal unloaders were 'employees' under the Social Security Act of 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.
Black J, Douglas J, and Murphy J concurred in the principles but dissented from their application, stating they would have held the Greyvan truckers to be employees as well. Rutledge J stated that he would have remanded the case to the District Court to reconsider the position of the Greyvan truckers in light of the court's stated principles.