In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was an employee of KBR/Halliburton and was working for them in Iraq. One night, she was attacked and raped by several of her co-workers. When she tried to report it to the company, she was locked in a shipping container for several hours before a sympathetic security guard released her.The company was at fault for failing to provide proper security safeguards for Ms. Jones, and again for locking her in a shipping container to try and prevent the story from getting out. She quit the company and filed suit against them in a federal court. Instead of admitting their wrongdoing, the company has been fighting for sever years to quash the court case.
The company claims that according to Ms. Jones employee contract, the case should have been referred to the company's arbitration process. If this had been a disagreement over pay or normal working conditions, they would have been right. But this was a case with extraordinary circumstances, and a federal appeals court has ruled that Ms. Jones has the right to take the case to the federal court.
Yesterday, the United States Senate entered the fray by passing an amendment by Sen. Al Franken to the pending defense spending bill. The amendment easily passed by a 68-30 vote. It would prohibit the Defense Department from contracting with companies that require matters like sexual assault to be submitted to arbitration.
Sen. Franken (pictured) claimed, "Companies are using fine print to deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court." I applaud Sen. Franken's actions. He's turning out to be every bit as good a senator as I thought he would be. It's about time someone stood up to companies like KBR/Halliburton and protected the rights of American citizens.
The amendment must still survive the Senate/House conference committee and then be approved by the full House and Senate. But the large margin of the Senate victory, along with the huge majority of Democrats in the House, makes me think the amendment will probably survive and become law.
how can they force arbitration on a criminal offense? The state department should be bringing charges against anyone that was involved and arrest them anytime they are on US controlled territory.
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