Supreme Court Allows Soldier's Negligence Suit Against Fluor to Proceed
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit filed by a U.S. soldier, Winston Hencely, against defense contractor Fluor Corp. can proceed. The suit alleges that Fluor failed to protect Hencely from a 2016 bombing attack in Afghanistan. Justice Clarence Thomas stated that no statute or constitutional provision expressly preempts Hencely's suit. The Fourth Circuit Court had previously ruled that the combatant activities exception in the Federal Tort Claims Act barred the suit, but the Supreme Court found this interpretation lacked constitutional or statutory foundation. Hencely's lawsuit claims that Fluor, which was contracted by the U.S. Army, negligently managed Afghan employees, leading to the attack that injured him and killed several others. 
