Judge says Halliburton must stay in convoy death case
By MARY FLOOD HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 24, 2009, 6:41PM
KBR convoy driver Tommy Hamill being held at gunpoint by the insurgents who took him hostage.
A Houston judge ruled today that Halliburton must remain as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging it and its former subsidiary KBR knowingly sent civilian truck convoys into dangerous conditions the day six drivers were killed in 2004 in Iraq.
U.S. District Judge Gray Miller found that Halliburton should remain in the case because plaintiffs have “numerous evidentiary examples of Halliburton’s involvement in the allegations giving rise to this litigation.”
Miller is considering a series of motions raised by the defendants to end three cases brought by injured plaintiffs and family members of the dead. The plaintiffs allege that KBR and its former parent, Halliburton, put profit above life in April 2004 when they deployed a convoy knowing about the heightened danger.
Miller previously dismissed the case, ruling that a civilian court could not second-guess military decisions. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Miller saying it may be possible to resolve the lawsuits without making a “constitutionally impermissible review of wartime decision-making.”
Halliburton spun off KBR in 2007. Last January it stated that it was paying off its final bill for KBR when it agreed to pay about $560 million to settle a Foreign Corrupt Practice Act case involving improper payments to Nigerian officials.
Halliburton has maintained the truck convoy lawsuits are based on KBR activity in Iraq, and Halliburton will be found to have no responsibility, legal or otherwise.
Miller did toss other corporate entities out of the lawsuit. KBR Inc. stays in the case. But KBR Holdings LLC and KBR International Inc. were let out. Also dropped from the suit were Halliburton Energy Services and DII Industries. (click HERE for original article)
I think Halliburton should stay in this suit. I remember in 2004 when I was there, KBR was clearly a subsidiary of Halliburton. Our email addresses were even “@Halliburton.com”.
Keep in mind several KBR drivers were killed and taken hostage. KBR driver Tommy Hammill escaped about a month later. Click HERE for more information on this tragic day.
I will be glad to see some closure for the victims of this tragic avoidable massacre!
Ms Sparky
I remember watching this story on television, in my secure home back in the states. I came to Iraq and drove trucks in convoys because I felt compelled to do the right thing. Help our military, our country, and freedom and democracy. I was not going to let the enemy make a fear monger out of me by this horrible situation. I realize that KBR was responsible for that outcome that day, and those men and families deserve everything they can get out of KBR for their sacrifices but, going beyond this, it was this particular event that led me to Iraq to do my part. I have seen the ravages of war and fortunately, survived by the grace of GOD. My heart goes out to all the victims and their families.
I truly hope the families prevail here. KBR might as well of line these drivers up and shot themselves. I’ve said this time and time again. Unarmed civilian contractors, American or otherwise, are not soldiers and their employer has an obligation to provide them with a safe work environment. It doesn’t matter how much they are getting paid. Being paid $100K a year does not make your life more expendable. If the contractor does not want to take responsibility for this risk, then the Military should take over the contract and do the driving themselves.
It always made me angry when we were staged and almost ready to go outside the wire, and KBR security would come up and add their two cents worth – like we were being allowed to do this thing that might ultimately take our lives but, KBR security couldn’t secure themselves out of a bad dream. They threatened to arrest a TCN one day at Scania. I knew that wasn’t going to happen because they didn’t have the “Powers of Arrest”. Sorry, I got off on a different subject matter but, I read your article on another post on your blog and it reminded me of this situation. I remember the military telling me many times they couldn’t believe we weren’t armed, except we could carry a very small knife, I believe anything longer than 6 inches would get a driver fired on the spot and sent home. We would have rather been armed but, we knew this before deploying. Wish this would change for the drivers and let them carry at least a small 9mm Glock with extra clips.
Thanks Mssparky for your allowing us to stay connected with these very important issues.
One thing I’ve noticed. You ever notice how brave the insurgents are by hiding behind ski masks & head wraps. That’s what the cowards do.