What happened
The U.S. Supreme Court held Thursday that federal trucking deregulation law does not wipe out a state-law negligent-hiring claim accusing C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. of choosing an allegedly unsafe motor carrier for a shipment that ended in a crash.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for a unanimous court that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act's safety exception preserves the claim because requiring a broker to use ordinary care in selecting a carrier "concerns" motor vehicles — namely, the trucks that will haul the goods. The decision reverses the Seventh Circuit and sends Shawn Montgomery's claim back for further proceedings.
The ruling matters for transportation brokers, motor carriers and crash plaintiffs because it rejects a categorical preemption shield for broker negligent-selection claims tied to truck safety. The court said the safety exception saves only the subset of otherwise preempted claims involving motor-vehicle safety, leaving state laws about prices, routes and services with no safety relationship preempted.
Montgomery was severely injured after a truck driven by Yosniel Varela-Mojena, hauling plastic pots through Illinois for Caribe Transport II LLC, struck Montgomery's stopped tractor-trailer. C.H. Robinson had coordinated the shipment, and Montgomery alleged the broker knew or should have known from Caribe Transport's federal safety rating that choosing the carrier was reasonably likely to result in crashes that would injure others.
The district court, applying Seventh Circuit precedent, held the FAAAA expressly preempted the negligent-hiring claim against C.H. Robinson and that the claim did not fall within the safety exception. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, deepening a split with decisions that allowed similar broker-liability claims to proceed under the exception.
The Supreme Court assumed without deciding that the FAAAA's preemption provision would otherwise cover Montgomery's claim, then held the exception controlled. The opinion said common-law duties and standards of care are part of a state's authority to regulate safety, and that negligent-hiring claims impose a duty of reasonable care when hiring a contractor for work involving a risk of physical harm.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, concurred to underscore that the case was close and that broker liability may carry real litigation and insurance costs. But he said Congress used an economic-deregulation statute, not a safety-deregulation law, and federal law as written does not categorically preempt state tort liability against brokers for negligent selection of trucking companies.
The case returns to the lower courts, where Montgomery still must prove the elements of his negligent-hiring theory, including whether C.H. Robinson acted unreasonably and whether any alleged failure caused his injuries.