The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a major 6–3 decision on Wednesday that allows a lawsuit brought by an injured U.S. Army veteran to move forward, reversing a lower court ruling that had previously thrown the case out. The decision marks another significant moment in how the Court is shaping liability standards for military contractors operating in war zones.
The case stems from a devastating 2016 suicide bombing at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. A Taliban operative, who had been working for a military contractor, detonated a suicide vest on the base. U.S. Army Specialist Winston Tyler Hencely confronted the attacker moments before the explosion and suffered catastrophic injuries, including a broken skull and severe brain trauma.
The high court’s majority, led by Justice Clarence Thomas, rejected a sweeping legal theory known as “battlefield preemption,” which would have broadly blocked state-law claims tied to military operations. In doing so, the Court made clear that contractors do not automatically gain immunity simply because they are operating in a combat zone, particularly when their conduct allegedly exceeds or violates military instructions.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined Thomas in the majority opinion, forming a rare coalition across ideological lines in a case involving war-zone liability and contractor accountability.
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