The Supreme Court of the United States handed down a unanimous decision May 14 in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, ruling that shippers can be sued for negligence. The Court’s eight-page decision was issued with no dissenting opinion.
Today’s ruling paves the way for Shawn Montgomery to proceed with his negligence lawsuit against C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. over injuries and damages stemming from a 2017 crash involving a contract hauler hired by the transportation broker.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe II Transport is a necessary step of acknowledgment that everyone in the supply chain has a responsibility for the safety of American highways.” – Mark Colson
Montgomery suffered severe, permanent injuries, including the loss of a leg, when his parked tractor-trailer was struck by another truck on an Illinois highway. The other vehicle was driven by Yosniel Varela-Mojena, who was transporting a shipment for motor carrier Caribe Transport II, LLC, a job coordinated by C.H. Robinson.
Montgomery sued all respondents in Federal District Court, alleging, among other things, that C.H. Robinson was liable for his injuries because it negligently hired Varela-Mojena and Caribe Transport. Montgomery claimed that C.H. Robinson knew (or should have known) from Caribe Transport’s safety rating that hiring it to transport goods was reasonably likely to result in crashes that would injure others.
Plaintiff attorneys argued that Varela-Mojena had been cited for careless driving in another crash months earlier, and that Caribe Transport had been involved with at least three crashes in five months.
The District Court held that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA). which preempts state laws related to the prices, routes, and services of the trucking industry, 49 U. S. C. §14501(c)(1), expressly preempted Montgomery’s negligent-hiring claim against C.H. Robinson.
Alabama Trucking President Mark Colson called the SCOTUS’s decision “a game changer.”
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe II Transport is a necessary step of acknowledgment that everyone in the supply chain has a responsibility for the safety of American highways,” said Colson. “It also complements the work of the Trucking Association Executives Council’s (TAEC) Trucking Resurgence action plan that is focused on rooting out the bad actors in the supply chain. The trucking industry spends more than $14 billion annually on creating a safety culture through investments in training and safety technologies, and we need all supply chain parters (brokers, shippers, freight forwarders, 3PLs insurers etc.) to make this type of commitment.”
Colson also noted the need for continued review and reform of the lawsuit industry. “While there will certainly be plaintiffs’ attorneys that weaponize this ruling for their own profit, hopefully one of the outcomes of this ruling will be a more thoughtful conversation about real solutions that save lives on our roads,” said Colson. “At the same time, the good actor trucking companies need relief from the frivolous lawsuits targeted at them that have little to do with safety or justice and more to do with lining billboard attorneys’ pockets. We remain committed to fighting this battle in Alabama.”
