Federal Wyoming Court Agrees With Hall & Evans and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Majority in Ruling That Case Against Freight Broker Is Preempted by the FAAAA

Hall & Evans attorneys Jill Gerdrum, Catie Freeman, and James Worthen recently won summary judgment on behalf of their client, freight broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., before the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. On June 24, 2025, the court ruled that Plaintiff’s vicarious liability, negligent hiring, and joint enterprise claims against C.H. Robinson fell within the preemptive ambit of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (the “FAAAA”) and were not saved by the safety exception.

Three federal circuit courts of appeal—the Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh—have examined whether claims against brokers are preempted by the FAAAA. See Montgomery v. Caribe Transp. II, LLC, 124 F.4th 1053 (7th Cir. 2025), cert. pending; Gauthier v. Hard to Stop LLC, 2024 WL 3338944, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 16696 (11th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, Gauthier v. Total Quality Logistics, LLC, 145 S.Ct. 1062 (2025); Ye v. GlobalTranz Enters., 74 F.4th 453 (7th Cir. 2023), cert. denied, 144 S.Ct. 564 (U.S. 2024); Aspen Am. Ins. Co. v. Landstar Ranger, Inc., 65 F.4th 1261 (11th Cir. 2023); Miller v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., 976 F.3d 1016, 1024 (9th Cir. 2020), cert. denied, 142 S.Ct. 2866 (U.S. 2022). All three agree that negligent hiring and similar claims fall within the preemptive scope of the FAAAA.

However, circuit courts are split as to whether the FAAAA’s safety exception saves claims against brokers from preemption. See id. Importantly, the District of Wyoming’s ruling aligns with the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits—the circuit majority—in finding that the safety exception offers no protection to claims against brokers. Furthermore, the court expressly rejected the one case forming the circuit minority, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Miller. The District of Wyoming is within the Tenth Circuit, which has yet to weigh in on the issue. In any event, this new ruling represents yet another promising order protecting brokers under the FAAAA.