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Hencely v. Fluor Corp. — Military Contractor State Tort Claims Not Preempted

The Supreme Court vacated the Fourth Circuit's judgment in Hencely v. Fluor Corporation (No. 24-924) and remanded the case, holding that state tort claims against a military contractor are not categorically preempted by federal law. The Court ruled that absent a federal statute to the contrary, states can regulate or hold liable federal contractors on the same terms as private companies, even when the conduct occurred overseas in a warzone. The decision reverses the lower court's dismissal of Winston Tyler Hencely's negligence suit arising from a 2016 suicide bombing at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan that killed 3 US soldiers and 2 civilians.