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After a truck collision, Driver sued Carrier Co. in state court for negligence. Carrier Co. failed to answer, and the court entered a default judgment for Driver. The judgment awarded damages but contained no findings about how the collision occurred.
Passenger, who was injured in the same collision, later sued Carrier Co. in federal court. Passenger argues that Carrier Co. is issue-precluded from denying that its driver was negligent because the default judgment in Driver's suit necessarily rested on negligence. Carrier Co. responds that no issue was actually litigated in the first action.
Is Carrier Co. issue-precluded from contesting negligence in Passenger's action? Discuss.