Supreme Court rules freight brokers can be held liable under state negligence law

On May 14, 2026, a unanimous Supreme Court decision held that state-law negligent-hiring claims against freight brokers are not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA or F4A). The Court’s opinion in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, resolves a longstanding split among the federal courts of appeals and eliminates a federal preemption defense under the FAAAA that freight brokers have used to defeat state tort…
By: DLA Piper