Supreme Court Allows Suit Against C.H. Robinson To Proceed
Unanimous May 14 ruling lets Shawn Montgomery sue broker C.H. Robinson over a 2017 crash under a federal safety exception.
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Overview
On May 14 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Shawn Montgomery may sue freight broker C.H. Robinson over a 2017 tractor-trailer crash that cost him part of his leg.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that Montgomery's negligent-hiring claim falls within a federal transportation-law safety exception, allowing his state-law suit to proceed.
More than two dozen states backed Montgomery, while the Trump administration and large logistics interests urged the court to block exposure of brokers to state-law liability.
A recent investigation found regulators approved at least 10,000 reconstituted carriers since 2021 and identified over 30,000 carriers using fake or undeliverable registration addresses.
The ruling overturns a Chicago appeals-court dismissal and clears the way for Montgomery's lawsuit to move forward in state courts.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources present the ruling in a factual, balanced manner, detailing the plaintiff's claims, the broker's federal-preemption defense, and competing reactions (states supporting Montgomery, industry group opposing). They include judicial reasoning and potential economic effects, avoiding loaded language or omission of significant viewpoints, which supports a neutral presentation.