When the Government Compels Corporate Labor: A Case That Looks a Lot Like Slavery If American law insists that a corporation is a “person,” then the government’s treatment of corporations raises a troubling question: Can the state compel a legal person to perform work without compensation? Under the Thirteenth Amendment, forcing any person to labor without pay is the very definition of slavery or involuntary servitude. In Bailey v. Alabama (1911), the Supreme Court struck down even indirect forms of coerced work. In Pollock v. Williams (1944), the Court reaffirmed that the Thirteenth Amendment forbids “all forms of compelled service” that a person cannot freely refuse. Corporations, however, are routinely compelled to perform extensive unpaid labor on behalf of the government. Businesses must collect payroll taxes under 26 U.S.C. §3102, process employee withholding, produce tax documentation, and often act as an arm of the IRS without a penny of compensation. In many states...