American Trucking Associations and the Louisiana Motor Transport Association have filed a brief supporting Louisiana’s anti-indemnification law against a lawsuit that calls it unconstitutional.
The law — passed in 2010 and effective in January 2011 — voids any contract provision that would assign legal liability to a trucking company for actions that are not its fault, said Bob Pitcher, ATA’s vice president of state laws.
The Louisiana Chemical Association filed a suit against the state this year, saying the law violates constitutional provisions that prohibit the government from impairing contracts on both a state and federal level, the trucking groups said in their brief.
Louisiana’s law does not impair contracts that were set before it took effect, so it does not violate those clauses of the state and federal constitution, ATA and LMTA argue.
LCA’s suit also argues that the law violates constitutional provisions regarding due process, equal protection and interstate commerce.
Doug Williams, an attorney for ATA and LMTA, said he is confident the law is constitutional.
