Katia Gauthier, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Peter Gauthier, and as Parent and Natural Guardian of Minors D.G. and N.G. v. Total Quality Logistics, LLC

The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) preempts state laws related to motor carrier and broker prices, routes, and services, 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(1), but contains an exception from preemption—known as the safety exception—for the state’s “safety regulatory authority … with respect to motor vehicles,” id. § 14501(c)(2)(A). The question presented is: Whether a wrongful death or personal injury claim against a freight broker that is based on the broker’s negligent hiring of an unsafe motor carrier to provide motor vehicle transportation invokes the state’s safety regulatory authority “with respect to motor vehicles,” and, thus, falls within the safety exception.