C.H. Robinson has been dismissed from a high-profile Florida ‘U-turn’ lawsuit, a significant development in the ongoing debate around broker liability. Despite being named a defendant, the broker proved it had no connection to the tragic incident. This case highlights how plaintiff attorneys sometimes target ‘deep-pocketed’ companies without sufficient evidence, impacting the legal landscape for freight brokers.
C.H. Robinson has been dismissed from a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from a fatal U-turn crash on the Florida Turnpike, after the brokerage demonstrated it had no involvement in the load or the carrier behind the wreck, according to FreightWaves reporter John Kingston. The dismissal came roughly two weeks after the suit was filed and removes what would have been the only deep-pocketed defendant in the case.
The crash drew widespread attention beyond the courts: a driver who had failed his CDL exam on the first attempt, and was later issued a California CDL, made a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, a minivan struck him, and three people were killed. The incident became a prominent political flashpoint during the federal crackdown on non-domiciled and non-compliant CDL holders, Kingston said.
C.H. Robinson was named as a defendant by the estate of one of the victims, but the brokerage told Kingston after the suit was filed that it had reviewed its records and could not determine why it had been included. The plaintiff’s attorney ultimately agreed and dropped the company without any formal legal ruling on the merits.
“C.H. Robinson must have shown that there’s not even the most minuscule tenuous link to this crash, and that’s why they were dropped. Because if there was any tie at all, they would have kept them in there.”
The dismissal leaves the plaintiff without a defendant with significant financial resources. Kingston noted he has yet to confirm whether the carrier involved in the crash still exists as an operating entity, adding that even if it does, the company likely carries only the standard minimum insurance required — far less than what a major civil judgment would demand. The FMCSA had already been investigating the carrier over a pattern of violations tied to both the driver and the motor carrier, according to the hosts.
The case had been closely watched by attorneys and logistics firms tracking post-Montgomery v. Carib Transport broker liability precedent. Kingston noted that the original Montgomery case — in which C.H. Robinson is still a defendant — requires filings back in the Seventh Circuit on Monday outlining what the parties intend to do following the Supreme Court’s involvement. That case remains the primary venue where broker negligence standards will be tested.
With C.H. Robinson out of the Florida matter, Kingston said the case no longer carries the same legal significance for the freight industry. “There are no broker liability issues in this anymore,” he said. The episode does, however, renew scrutiny of plaintiff attorneys naming large freight brokers in crash litigation as a financial strategy rather than on the merits of their involvement.
- C.H. Robinson was dismissed from the Florida U-turn wrongful-death suit roughly two weeks after being named, having shown no connection to the load or carrier.
- The crash, which killed 3 people, involved a driver who had failed his CDL exam on the first attempt and became a major political symbol in the crackdown on non-domiciled CDL holders.
- The original Montgomery v. Carib Transport broker liability case, also involving C.H. Robinson, requires Seventh Circuit filings on Monday and remains the key case to watch.
Craig Fuller [0:00] John Kingston.
Speaker 2 [0:01] He is the world’s most respected energy reporter. But before we get into that, I gotta talk, John Kingston.
Craig Fuller [0:09] You did a story that we broke earlier this, uh, today about C.H.
Speaker 2 [0:14] Robinson, this U-turn lawsuit that they were, uh, uh, named in, but it turns out they actually had nothing to do with the U-turn load.
Craig Fuller [0:23] Let’s talk about that.
Speaker 3 [0:25] Yeah, well, theyu2014 and they said that right off the bat, that this is the famous U-turn, the U-turn case, the, uh, the immigrant fromu2014 illegal immigrant fromu2014 I’m notu2014 somewhere in South Asia, I know it was India or somewhere else, who made a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike. Minivan plowed into him, 3 people killed. Just a terrible story. And of course, it also had lots of politics with it because there was an illegal immigrant. It was during the, uh, the crackdown on, on, on immigrants holding CDLs. He had a California CDL, uh, so it had all the politics mixed into two. So the estate of one of the individuals that was killed filed suit against several people, including one very deep-pocketed defendant, C.H. Robinson. And C.H. Robinson, not even in a legal documentu2014 they put this out to me when I wrote the story, thatu2014 there it is right thereu2014 that they had nothing to do with this, and they looked over their records, and they areu2014 they really did not know why they were being brought in as a defendant. Well, Ultimately, it took about 2 weeks or so, but they convinced the, uh, the plaintiff that they were not a defendant, they should not be a defendant, and that they have been removed. Now, this is reallyu2014 I think it’s important because, you know, there’s going to be a network or a body of post-Montgomery cases on broker liability. This one probably would have gotten a lot of attention just because the crash itself had gotten a lot of attention. Well, you know what, it’s just a sort ofu2014 no, I hate to say normal, people died here,, but it’s kind of your normal, uh, tort over a fatal accident. There are no broker liability issues in this anymore. We’re just kind of going to forget this one. I’m not saying forget it, but it just suddenly became not as important. Now, theu2014 of course, the other case that C.H. Robinson is involved in is the original Montgomery v. Carib Transport II and C.H. Robinson. Presumably, I guess C.H. Robinson is back as a defendant after the Supreme Court case. There needs to be filings in that case on Monday back in the Seventh Circuit on what the parties intend to do. So that’s, that’s obviously one to watch. There’ll be others as well. But, but I think certainly the Florida U-turn case was going to be one that really brought in the question of what becomes a broker liability. We know there’s going to be broker liability. You know, how much does a broker get held liable or negligent or whatever? And C.H. Robinson is now out of that case.
Craig Fuller [2:46] Yeah, it was like when you reported on this story, reading it, we opened the show with it. It had broken right before we went on air. So we didn’t have it in the minute, the news lineup, but it was something that Malcolm and I discussed.
Speaker 2 [3:00] I gotta say, this is the most ridiculous thing that a plaintiff’s attorneyu2014
Craig Fuller [3:03] well, that is saying a lot because it’s not the most ridiculous thing plaintiff’s attorney’s ever tried.
Speaker 2 [3:08] It is ridiculous. The plaintiff’s attorney is, is who filed this did not do their homework. Because C.H. Robinson had nothing to do with it. And for whatever you think of C.H. Robinson, like, do your job, plaintiffs, and get it right. If you’re going to go after companies and damage their name, make sure they have something to do with it. This didn’t happen in this case.
Speaker 3 [3:30] Yeah, I mean, what’s sort of amazing is that C.H. Robinson, after the case was filed, you know, presumably sat him down and said, hey, look, you know, where’s your evidence that we had anything to do with this? And the plaintiff’s attorney obviously saw that there was no evidence and just let him go. I mean, you, you needed to have the, the case filed first to do that. What kind of homework did you do in advance?
Speaker 2 [3:50] He did none.
Speaker 3 [3:51] None.
Speaker 2 [3:54] Did none. Like, didn’t do his job. And it’s, it’s unfortunate because there are situations where parties should be held accountable.
Craig Fuller [4:06] Parties are going to be held accountable, but this is one that you damageu2014 this is probably the most famous, if maybe this case and the one in Ontario, California that happened last year that was that horrific accident where I think 5 cars were plowed by that guy. He either fell asleep or something and just completely took out all these cars. Horrific case that we saw on camera, but this is a case that has become very, as you mentioned, John, very infamous because It was probably the first major political rallying call for the administration about the danger of non-domiciled CDL drivers and drivers that weren’t fully compliant. And so this was something that all over the media became the poster child of it.
Speaker 3 [4:51] Yep, yeah, I mean, it had everything in it. It had an illegal immigrant, it had the whole California issue in Florida. I mean, you couldn’t have scripted this better.
Craig Fuller [4:59] I mean, I wrote about it in the New York Times op-ed about the, the fact that there is no driver shortage and this narrative is damaged by lowering the barriers to entry.
Speaker 2 [5:09] This is a driver who actually had failed to takeu2014 his first try at the CDL test, actually failed it, and then was eventually issued a CDL, but he had no business being on the roads. It’s just, look, this just drives me crazy as somebody has to report on it or has the opportunity to report on it because, again, the plaintiff’s attorneys simply filed this, and there needs to be accountability for that. You can’t just name somebody that has nothing to do with it. It’s ridiculous.
Speaker 3 [5:38] Well, here’s the thing. I mean, the problem now for the plaintiff is that I don’t think they’ve got a defendant with deep pockets. I mean, maybe the carriersu2014
Speaker 2 [5:45] I mean, did they say, hey, Steve Robbins is the biggest, let’s just go after them and name them? That’s ridiculous.
Speaker 3 [5:49] That’s literally why. I mean, it’s debatable. I have yet to get a firm information about whether this carrier still exists.
Craig Fuller [5:58] Uh, probably not. And that’s probably what theyu2014
Speaker 3 [6:00] if they do that, how rich can they be? You may beu2014 you know, they probably have your standardu2014 if they were legitimate at all, they’ve got a standard minimum insurance contract. That’s not going to be all that deep.
Craig Fuller [6:11] I know it’s been some time since I actually dug into this carrier, but I believe that the FMCSA was already investigating them, and there was a track record of just violation after violation, both applying to the driver and the motor carrier.
Speaker 2 [6:26] To your point, John, there may not be anybody there to actually pay the lawsuit, and the plaintiff’s attorney was trying to bring C.H.
Craig Fuller [6:34] Robinson into this because to your point, they have a lot of money, like they’re the poster child.
Speaker 2 [6:38] Are we going to see more of these types of frivolous bullshit lawsuits out there? And I said it, I did it on record.
Speaker 3 [6:46] Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, when I used to be on CNBC and Fox Business, people didn’t say bullshit, but I just want to mention that, you know. So this is a very new format.
Speaker 2 [6:55] This is a brand new format where, yes, we allow it.
Speaker 3 [6:59] I, I would think that this is so egregious, and C.H. Robinson smacked down these lawyers so fast. Good. That they deserve it. Yeah, yeah, you would think that. I mean, maybe if there’s a tenuous link somewhere, but, but theyu2014 C.H. Robinson must have shown that there’s not even the, the most minuscule tenuous link to this crash, and that’s why they were dropped. Because if there was any tie at all, they would have kept them in there.
Speaker 2 [7:22] If they were involved in it, we’d be having a very different conversation.
Craig Fuller [7:25] If they were the broker of record, we wouldn’t be talking about how ridiculous this plaintiff’s attorney did.
Speaker 2 [7:28] They didn’t do their job. But anyways, yeah. All right, John, let’s talk about oil. Let’s talk about energy. Let’s talk about Europe right now. They’re really scorching high, and air conditioning has become the American thing, whereas Europe apparently
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