The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a former US Army soldier wounded in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, allowing him to sue the government contractor that employed the attacker. The decision, handed down on Wednesday, overturns a lower court ruling that had blocked the lawsuit.
Former Army Spc. Winston Hencely was injured in 2016 when he confronted Ahmad Nayeb, who was attempting to detonate an explosive vest at a Veterans Day weekend 5K race at Bagram Airfield. Nayeb blew himself up when stopped, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen, according to court documents.
The explosion fractured Hencely's skull and caused traumatic brain injury, leaving him with limited use of the left side of his body, abnormal brainwaves, and seizures. An Army investigation later faulted Fluor Intercontinental, the contractor, for failing to supervise Nayeb, who built the vest on the job site inside the base.
Fluor, based in Irving, Texas, argued it could not be sued because it was working for the government, which is generally immune from lawsuits. However, Hencely's lawyers countered that such immunity applies only to the government itself, not to contractors. The Supreme Court agreed, reviving the lawsuit.
