Vaughn Kelly, Sr. v. Kroger Limited Partnership I, CAC Operations LLC, and Nolan Booth

Summary

The court limits plaintiff Vaughn Kelly, Sr.’s negligence claims against Kroger at trial to Kroger’s alleged conduct on April 20, 2023, excluding claims based on Kroger’s earlier hiring of CAC Operations LLC. The court discusses the uncertainty under Mississippi law concerning negligent hiring of an independent contractor, the physical-harm limitation in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 411, and the evidentiary limitations concerning post-incident allegations about CAC’s towing practices.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff failed to provide the necessary factual or legal support for a negligent hiring claim against Kroger, and the claim may not proceed at trial.
2. Plaintiff's negligence claims against Kroger are limited at trial to alleged negligent conduct by Kroger on April 20, 2023, and may not be based on Kroger's decision to hire CAC months earlier.
3. The online articles relied upon by plaintiff were hearsay as to CAC and irrelevant to Kroger's hiring decision because they were published after the April 2023 incident and after Kroger hired CAC; however, non-hearsay evidence of subsequent bad acts may potentially be admissible to show intent under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b).

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiff had sufficient legal and factual support to pursue a negligent hiring claim against Kroger for selecting CAC as its independent towing contractor.
2. Whether plaintiff's negligence claims against Kroger should be limited at trial to Kroger's conduct in requesting the tow on April 20, 2023, rather than Kroger's earlier decision to hire CAC.
3. Whether online articles concerning CAC's later towing practices were hearsay as to CAC and irrelevant to Kroger's hiring decision, subject to the possible use of non-hearsay subsequent-bad-acts evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b).

Disposition

other