Supreme Court weighs if contractor can be sued for wartime negligence

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a case against a military contractor whose employee killed five people and injured 17 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in 2016.

The majority of justices seemed skeptical that the case, brought against Fluor Corp., was an exception to previous lawsuits filed against defense contractors, which typically have immunity in litigation generated by their involvement in wartime service.

In the case Hencely v. Fluor, former Army Spec. Winston Hencely argued that Fluor should be liable under state law for failing to supervise an employee who carried out a suicide bomb attack that killed three soldiers and two Fluor staff members.

In the bombing investigation, the Army found that Fluor violated its contractual duties by providing the perpetrato