WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest court delivered a unanimous decision Thursday permitting a crash victim to proceed with his lawsuit against a leading logistics firm following a devastating highway accident that resulted in a partial leg amputation.
The justices sided with Shawn Montgomery, whose stationary car was struck by a speeding semi-truck on an Illinois roadway in 2017. Montgomery contends that C.H. Robinson, the nation’s top freight broker, bears responsibility for their part in allowing the driver to operate despite what he calls “serious red flags.”
While the logistics firm contests this claim, Thursday’s ruling from the high court does not ensure Montgomery will ultimately prevail in his case.
More than two dozen states supported Montgomery’s legal challenge, stating the matter would strengthen safety standards within an industry responsible for transporting billions of tons of cargo across countless miles annually. Opposition came from the Trump administration and corporations including Amazon, who warned against subjecting logistics firms to legal exposure under what they termed a “patchwork” of varying state regulations.
According to Montgomery’s legal team, the truck operator had previously received citations for reckless driving in an earlier collision just months before, while his employer had been connected to no fewer than three accidents within roughly five months. Montgomery’s legal action claims C.H. Robinson bears partial responsibility for contracting with the carrier despite these warning signs.
The logistics company maintained that Montgomery’s state-level lawsuit should be dismissed because freight brokers depend on federal oversight of carriers, with federal regulations taking precedence over state laws.
However, in a written decision by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court rejected this argument. The court determined that Montgomery’s allegations qualify under a safety regulation exemption, allowing his case to proceed.
The ruling may lead to increased legal challenges and insurance expenses for freight brokers that could eventually “cascade through the economy” and cause higher consumer prices, Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted in a supporting opinion joined by Justice Samuel Alito.
Nevertheless, “truck safety is a matter of life and death,” Kavanaugh emphasized.
The decision reversed an earlier ruling by a Chicago-area appellate court that had favored C.H. Robinson, which operates from Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
