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Attorney General Ken Paxton Supports Wounded Veteran at SCOTUS Against Contractor that Enabled Taliban-Affiliated Employee to Detonate Bomb on Military Base
AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a multistate coalition in supporting wounded veteran Winston Hencely in his suit against the Fluor Corporation, a military contractor, for negligent conduct that enabled a suicide bomber on their payroll to conduct a terror attack.
As soldiers gathered for a Veterans Day event at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in 2016, a former Taliban insurgent employed by the Fluor Corporation named Ahmad Nayeb detonated a bomb killing five American soldiers and wounding fifteen others. A military investigation revealed that Fluor’s lack of supervision and negligent security protocols had enabled Nayeb to use materials on the base to build the bomb and enter restricted areas.
Hencely, who was wounded in the attack, sued Fluor under a South Carolina law but the Fourth Circuit wrongfully ruled that the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) somehow foreclosed the state-law claims even though FTCA’s exceptions expressly do not apply to military contractors. The Fourth Circuit’s attempt to rewrite federal law is an affront to the separation of powers and states’ rights. Attorney General Paxton joined a coalition of State Attorneys General in a West Virginia-led amicus brief supporting Hencely in his appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.
“The brave people who serve our country like Winston Hencely deserve justice when harmed by the reckless actions of military contractors,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Fluor Corporation’s inaction negligently endangered American soldiers, and the Fourth Circuit inexplicably ignored federal law in an attempt to shield the contractor from accountability. I will always support our veterans and fight back against judicial overreach that undermines the rule of law.”
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