Halliburton and KBR have just lost a decision in federal court that could cost them dearly. U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison ruled on Friday that one of their female employees can sue the companies. The companies were trying to force her to agree to binding arbitration, citing the contract signed when the woman was hired.
Back in 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones worked for KBR in Camp Hope in Baghdad. At that time, KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton. Ms. Jones was living in a company-provided co-ed dorm, and suffered daily harrassment from some of the men living there.
On 07/28/05, Ms. Jones was drugged and raped by several firefighters working for KBR. She was then kidnapped and falsely imprisoned in a shipping container by KBR employees, so she couldn't report the crime. After being imprisoned for a day, an honest employee released her. To this day, none of the firefighters have been convicted of any crime.
Ms. Jones then filed suit in federal court against KBR and it's parent company, Halliburton. Lawyers for Halliburton and KBR filed their own suit, saying that Ms. Jones had signed a contract when she was hired that said disagreements between her and the company would be settled in private with binding arbitration. They contended the court had no juristiction because of the contract.
They were wrong. The judge agreed that matters such as salary must be handled in arbitration, but the rape, kidnapping and imprisonment went far beyond the terms of the contract. The judge gave Ms. Jones permission to proceed with her court case on those grounds.
Now, all of the charges will be aired in open court (as they should be). After they hear the horrible facts in this case, I'll bet a jury will be much more generous in their verdict than an arbitrator would have been.
I wish Ms. Jones and her attorney luck. She deserves every penny she can squeeze out of Halliburton and KBR.
Wow! Unbelievable. I must have been living under a rock to have not known about this story.
ReplyDeleteGood for the judge and shame on those assholes. Geez!
I hope she bankrupts the companies. That's the least that can happen to them.
One thing I'm not clear of ... are those people who did that to her unable to be tried criminally?
They could be tried by an Iraqi court, but the American government wouldn't allow that.
ReplyDeleteSince they were working for America and on an American base, you would think they would be subject to American law also. I don't understand why they haven't been tried somewhere.
All I can figure is they were working for Cheney's old company, and he and Bush are trying to protect the company.
That is just wrong.
ReplyDelete