Beare Company v. State Tennessee

This tax litigation involves an appeal by the State of Tennessee and the Tennessee Department of Employment Security, Defendants-Appellants, from an order of the Tennessee Claims Commission requiring the State to refund employment security taxes that The Beare Company, Claimant-Appellee, paid to the Tennessee Department of Employment Security for the period 1982-86. The taxes were assessed against Beare by the State in 1987 after a determination was made that certain "truck hoppers," individuals who unload trucks at Beares warehouse facilities, were Beare employees for purposes of the Employment Security Law, T.C.A. § 50-7-101 et seq. Beare sued to recover the taxes in the amount of $54,366.54, plus interest, which it had paid under protest. The Tennessee Claims Commission determined that Beare was entitled to a refund, plus interest. The issue before this Court is whether Beare is required to pay unemployment taxes on the services provided by hoppers that were paid by Beare who, in turn, was reimbursed by the carrier of the goods unloaded by the hoppers.