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Alyce Couch, Independent Administrator of the Estate of Billy Couch v. United States of America

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ARGUED JUNE 7, 2012

Before MANION, KANNE, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

This case presents a recurring issue under the Federal Tort Claims Act and Illinois law, and one that has divided federal district courts in Illinois. The question is whether a driver employed by a private trucking company with a “Highway Contract Route” or “HCR” contract with the U.S. Postal Service is also a “borrowed employee” of the Postal Service for purposes of the Federal Tort Claims Act and the Illinois Workers Compensation Act (IWCA). We conclude that the answer is no. The private trucking company does not merely “lend employees” to the Postal Service but provides mail transportation and delivery services. The company trains, equips, pays, and supervises its own employees using its own equipment to provide these services. We therefore reverse the district court’s grant of judgment for the government in this case. Our decision is consistent with decisions in many cases in which injured persons have sued the Postal Service for injuries caused by the negligence of HCR drivers. In those cases the Postal Service has successfully argued that the HCR drivers are independent contractors rather than borrowed employees for whose negligence the Postal Service could be held liable.

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