Lawsuits Against KBR

Archive for the Lawsuits Against KBR Category

Taxpayers foot the bill for KBR attorneys at $750 per hour plus other outrageous perks

By Ms Sparky | Filed in CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Politics, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

Wyden: KBR is Wasting Taxpayer Money While Avoiding Responsibility for Exposure of Oregon Guard to Toxic Chemicals

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Washington, D.C. – In a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called on the DoD to investigate the excessive expenses racked up by the legal team of Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) – a defense contractor that operated in Iraq with the contractual ability to pass all of their legal costs to American taxpayers. A lawsuit against KBR brought by a group of Oregon National Guard members assigned to provide security for KBR personnel claims that KBR management knew that the soldiers were being exposed to toxic chemicals while working at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant. Read the remainder of this entry »

Pages: 1 2

Tags: David Sugerman, Jeff Raizner, KBR, Mike Doyle, Oregon National Guard, Qarmat Ali, RIO-KBR, Secretary Leon Panetta, Sen. Ron Wyden

Leaked Memo: Afghan ‘Burn Pit’ Could Wreck Troops’ Hearts, Lungs

By Ms Sparky | Filed in Burn Pit Lawsuits, Burn Pits, CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR

A bulldozer dumps a load of trash into a burn pit just 300 yards from the runway at Bagram Airfield, January 2012. An Army memo from 2011 found the burn pit is associated with "long-term" health effects on soldiers at Bagram. Photo: U.S. Army

By Spencer Ackerman @ Wired.com

A bulldozer dumps a load of trash into a burn pit just 300 yards from the runway at Bagram Airfield, January 2012. An Army memo from 2011 found the burn pit is associated with “long-term” health effects on soldiers at Bagram.

For years, U.S. government agencies have told the public, veterans and Congress that they couldn’t draw any connections between the so-called “burn pits” disposing of trash at the military’s biggest bases and veterans’ respiratory or cardiopulmonary problems. But a 2011 Army memo obtained by Danger Room flat-out stated that the burn pit at one of Afghanistan’s largest bases poses “long-term adverse health conditions” to troops breathing the air there. Read the remainder of this entry »

Pages: 1 2 3 4

Tags: Baghram, Bagram Airfield, Burn Pits, Lawsuits Against KBR, Susan Burke

Judge Tosses KBR Defense to Feds’ False Claims Case

By Ms Sparky | Filed in GOV. CONTRACTORS, KBR, KBR Contract, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR, Qui Tam, Security Contractors

“More Cost….More Plus” as the KBR managers used to say!

Ryan Abbott - (Courthouse News) – WASHINGTON – Defense contractor KBR cannot deflect fraud claims by accusing the U.S. government of failing to provide “force protection,” a federal judge ruled.

Formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root Services, the contractor faces up to $300 million in civil penalties and treble damages on charges that it overbilled the government for private security contractors in Iraq.

The Army hired KBR to provide logistical services, such as transportation, maintenance, facilities management and dining facilities, for U.S. military operations around the world. But the contract excluded payment for armed contractors that provide security for KBR and its subcontractors.

Though KBR hired Triple Canopy, Omega Risk Solutions and Al Dhahir to provide security for executives in Iraq, the government says it should have relied on military protection. Its 2010 complaint alleges that KBR collected “more than $100 million in payments related to private security.”

In a 2011 answer and a counterclaim, KBR accused the government of not providing enough security.

Chief U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth dismissed the counterclaim Monday but said the contractor can try revising the claim to pass muster at a later date.

Read the remainder of this entry »

Tags: Al Dhahir, False Claims Act, Judge Royce Lamberth, KBR, Omega Risk Solutions, Triple Canopy

Oregon case against KBR is streamlined

By Ms Sparky | Filed in A Soldiers Story, CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

Mike Francis - (The Oregonian) - April 10, 2012 – The suit brought by several dozen Oregon National Guard soldiers against military contractor KBR Inc. has been downsized by the federal judge hearing the case.

In an effort to reduce the number of plaintiffs to a manageable number, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak has ordered trial to proceed in October with 12 plaintiffs — four chosen by lawyers for each side, and four selected by the court.

Separately, one plaintiff, Michael O’Rielly, has withdrawn from the case at his own request.

That leaves 21 soldiers whose case against KBR will be set aside while the trial of the first dozen proceeds in Portland this fall.

Read the remainder of this entry »

KBR May Have Knowingly Poisoned U.S. Soldiers in Iraq, But It Won’t Pay a Penny

By Ms Sparky | Filed in CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

"Where Community Matters" (photo from POGO Website)

Dana Liebelson – (POGO) – April 5, 2012 – Lawyers representing U.S. soldiers poisoned at a water treatment plant in Iraq have presented strong evidence that contractor Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) knew personnel stationed there would be exposed to a carcinogenic chemical, according to The Associated Press. But as POGO reported earlier, KBR’s contract with the U.S. Army contains a classified provision that lets KBR off the hook for damage, injury, and death occurring at its worksites–so even if KBR is proved to be at fault, U.S. taxpayers will be footing the bill. Read the remainder of this entry »