Fluor Immunity in Bomb Suit Not Intended by Congress, Brief Says

Fluor Corp. should have to defend itself in a lawsuit seeking to hold the defense contractor responsible for not doing enough to stop an Afghanistan suicide bomb attack in 2016, US soldier Winston Hencely told the US Supreme Court.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit incorrectly determined that the combatant-activities exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act barred the suit, Hencely said in his Thursday brief to the high court. The exception exists to preclude state regulation of US military conduct and decisions.

But barring a state claim against a contractor if that claim just touches the ...