Lawsuits Against KBR – Ms Sparky

Archive for the Lawsuits Against KBR Category

Look who’s whining now, the “chilling effects” of Pentagon budget cuts

By Ms Sparky | Filed in GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Politics, Rants

USG Contractor

The war in Iraq is over and the war in Afghanistan is winding down. The United States is inching its way out of the worst recession in history. The one industry that has continued to thrive, while everyone else has held on fearing for their future, is the defense industry. During the political divisions, or maybe diversions is a more accurate term, within both the House and Senate, the lobbyists have seen to it their fat cat clients are untouchable.

Now, the gravy train is slowly coming to a stop and a sense panic appears to be descending on the corner offices of DoD contractors everywhere.

The prospect of budget cuts is having a “chilling effect” on the defense industry and companies such as Lockheed may stop hiring and training, Stevens, chairman and chief executive of the world’s largest defense contractor, said today at a conference in Washington. ~ Automatic Pentagon Cuts Must Be Stopped, Lockheed Chief Says

I am certain I’m not the first to say this, “It is about f’ing time these companies got off the taxpayer’s teat.” Read the remainder of this entry »

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Tags: Ashton Carter, Bill Utt, DoD Contractors, DoD*, Fraud Waste and Abuse, KBR, Lockheed Martin, LOGCAP, LOGCAP III, LOGCAP IV, Pentagon, Retired General's Club

Federal Court Upholds Right to Sue Jordanian Defense Contractor in U.S.

By Ms Sparky | Filed in CONTRACTOR DEATHS, GOV. CONTRACTORS, Iraq Human Trafficking, KBR, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR, Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Violations

Judge rejects argument that U.S. court lacks jurisdiction in Nepali human trafficking case

PRESS RELEASE
(Cohen Milstein) – WASHINGTON – March 05, 2012 – A federal court today upheld its jurisdiction over Daoud & Partners, a Jordanian defense subcontractor that allegedly participated in trafficking Nepali laborers to work at a U.S. military base in Iraq against their will. A trial date has been set for April 29, 2013.

In denying Daoud’s motion to appeal this decision, Judge Keith Ellison, of the Southern District of Texas, ruled that the court has personal jurisdiction over Daoud & Partners, a subcontractor to KBR, Inc., the Houston-based defense contractor that also is a defendant in the case. The case involves 13 Nepali men who in 2004 were promised jobs in Jordan, but were instead involuntarily transported to Iraq. Twelve of the men were captured and killed by insurgents on the way to the U.S. Air Force base where they were to work.

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Tags: Agnieszka Fryszman, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Daoud & Partners Ltd, Human Trafficking, Judge Keith P. Ellison, KBR, Ramchandra Adhikari et al. v. Daoud & Partners et al., RICO Violations, Trafficking In Persons

Blood Money

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

War profiteering has never been so profitable for the wrongdoer and so dangerous for our troops and the taxpayer. Please sign my petition (SIGN HERE)

More than 200 soldiers are suing KBR for knowingly exposing them to toxic chemicals in Iraq, whose effects started with nose bleeds and could end with cancer. KBR says that didn’t happen. But even if it did, the company isn’t responsible. Taxpayers are.

Craig Malisow – (Houston Press) – February 15, 2012

Basra, Iraq: July, 2003

Oregon National Guardsman Larry Roberta says he went to Iraq fit, and came back barely able to breathe.
Larry Roberta, a specialist in the Oregon National Guard, sat on a stack of sacks brimming with one of the most carcinogenic chemicals known to man and chomped on his chicken patty.

Unsuccessful in his mission to swap his rations with any of the British soldiers, who were stocked with heavenly corned beef hash and chocolate pudding, he braved the mystery meat’s gooey coating while keeping an eye on the contractors’ trailer a few yards away. While the Kellogg Brown & Root guys ate inside the trailer, Roberta could’ve taken lunch in one of the vehicles, but he figured vehicles were prime targets for any insurgents or Saddam loyalists who might be scouring the area. Better to suffer the hundred-plus-degree heat.

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Tags: Chuck Adams, Halliburton, Hexavalent Chromium, Indiana National Guard, KBR, Larry Roberta, Lawsuits Against KBR, Lt. Col. James Gentry, Mike Doyle, Oregon National Guard, Qarmat Ali, Russell Kimberling, Sen. Ron Wyden, Sodium Dichromate, Virginia Army National Guard

Judge moves to streamline (Oregon National Guard) soldiers’ case against KBR

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

Published: Thursday, February 09, 2012, 2:20 PM Updated: Thursday, February 09, 2012, 2:33 PM

By Mike Francis, The Oregonian

An unspecified number of the 34 Oregon National Guard soldiers suing contractor KBR Inc. over their exposure to sodium dichromate in Iraq will have their cases set aside when the case goes to trial. The trial in U.S. District Court has been rescheduled for Oct. 9, four months later than the previously scheduled date.

U.S. District Magistrate Judge Paul Papak told lawyers Wednesday in a conference call that 34 plaintiffs would make the case “too unwieldy” for trial, said Jeffrey Eden, a Portland lawyer helping to represent KBR.

As a result, the parties agreed generally on a formula that would let the soldiers’ attorneys choose four plaintiffs, and the defense lawyers and the court another four each. Then those 12 plaintiffs would proceed to a trial, with the remaining plaintiffs’ cases shelved until the first case is resolved.

However, some of those 12 may be dismissed, as their cases for damages are likely to be challenged by KBR before the case reaches trial.

Still to be settled are whether the outcome of the first trial will be binding for the other soldiers currently listed as plaintiffs.

At the same time, Judge Papak continues to consider KBR’s request to dismiss the entire case. He has asked the lawyers for additional information about the expert opinions used in the litigation, so his decision may not come for months, said David Sugerman, a Portland lawyer helping to represent the soldiers.(see original article HERE)

Tags: David Sugerman, Hexavalent Chromium, Judge Paul Papak, KBR, Lawsuits Against KBR, Oregon National Guard, Qarmat Ali, Sodium Dichromate

KBR asks federal judge to dismiss case brought by Oregon soldiers

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

Mike Francis – (The Oregonian) – January 27, 2012 – Lawyers for defense contractor KBR Inc. asked a federal judge in Portland Friday to dismiss the suit brought by a group of Oregon National Guard soldiers who said the KBR knowingly exposed them to a carcinogenic compound while they served in Iraq in 2003.

U.S. District Judge Paul Papak heard the arguments for two hours Friday morning, then said he would rule on KBR’s request in the coming weeks.

Friday’s arguments, while delivered in calm and measured tones, included some stinging accusations. KBR’s lawyer said the soldiers’ primary medical expert is “a junk scientist who cannot be trusted.” And the soldiers’ lawyer said KBR committed “fraud” in its conduct at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant and in its actions afterward.

While KBR is technically asking the judge to dismiss the entire case brought by 34 Oregon National Guard soldiers, KBR lawyer Geoffrey Harrison of the Houston law firm of Susman Godfrey acknowledged that he expects some subset of the group will survive the legal challenge and proceed toward trial.

Read the remainder of this entry »

Tags: David Sugerman, Hexavalent Chromium, Jeffrey Eden, Judge Paul Papak, KBR, Oregon National Guard, Qarmat Ali, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, Sodium Dichromate