» LAWSUITS Ms Sparky

Paper or plastic and other news

Posted on: February 5th, 2012 at 7:21 pm — by Forseti

Fed / Contractor Compensation Issues Are Burning Red Hot
Scott Amey – (POGO) – February 3, 2012 – Compensation was a hot topic this week–here’s a recap of the biggest developments:

Monday: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a study that found that federal employees, on average, are paid 16 percent more than employees in the private sector with the same education.

Tuesday: The White House blogged that the contractor executive compensation cap of $693,951 should be reduced to a “level on par with what the Government pays its own executives – approximately $200,000.”

Wednesday: The House passed a bill (H.R. 3835) freezing federal salaries through 2013.

Thursday: The Senate proposed a bill to freeze civilian pay through 2014 and cut the civilian workforce.

You might recall that in 2011, the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1540) included a provision that extended the reimbursable compensation cap to all defense contractors (with a large loophole for top-talented scientists and engineers that is ripe for abuse). This might sound good, however the cap is expected to jump to approximately $750,000 (see p. 21) in 2012. Although, one might question that cap because it was based on “commercially available surveys of executive compensation,” which included the “5 most highly compensated employees in management position.” With the new cap applying to defense contractor employees, it seems top-heavy to use the old formula. (Click HERE for article)

13th ESC commander dies of apparent natural causes in Afghanistan
Brigadier General Terence J. Hildner
(Fort Hood Press Center) – FORT HOOD, Texas – February 3, 2012 – Fort Hood officials have released the name of a Soldier who died of apparent natural causes Feb. 3 in Kabul, Afghanistan.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

David Isenberg: Gun? Check. Radio? Check. Lawyer? Check!

Posted on: January 20th, 2012 at 10:46 am — by Ms Sparky

David Isenberg – (Huffington Post) – January 20, 2012 – Some things just seem to go together: day and night, bread and butter, Romeo and Juliet, Abbott and Costello, Crosby and Hope, Batman and Robin, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Cheech and Chong, Sonny and Cher, Beavis and Butthead and sharks and suckerfish (remora) for example. In light of that last pair, another symbiotic pair is private military and security contractors and lawyers.

When historians try to calculate the various benefits that the past decade of privatized contingency operations has brought, one hopes they won’t forget to include the huge number of billable hours that various law firms representing various plaintiffs and defendants have amassed. Firms like KBR, Blackwater and DynCorp alone have doubtlessly enabled scores of lawyers to pay for their children’s education all the way up through doctorates.

For example, earlier this month the security company once known as Blackwater, now Academi, agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by six victims or their families in the Sept. 16, 2007 shootings in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square, an incident that remains a lightning rod over the use of private contractors in war.

According to Charlotte, North Carolina law firm Lewis & Roberts, who represented the victims in this case, the lawsuit was the “last active civil suit stemming from the incident,” in which five Blackwater guards were accused in 14 deaths of civilians.

Also this month the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), announced that DynCorp International, a Falls Church, Va.-based private military contractor and aircraft maintenance company, will pay $155,000 and furnish other significant relief to settle a sex-based harassment and retaliation lawsuit.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

KBR, Halliburton Won’t Face Trial in Iraq Convoy Driver Deaths, Court Says

Posted on: January 12th, 2012 at 2:31 pm — by Ms Sparky

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Margaret Cronin Fisk - Jan 12, 2012 3:55 PM CT

(Bloomberg News) – Halliburton Co. (HAL), won’t face a jury on claims they sent unarmed civilian convoy drivers into an Iraqi battle zone in 2004, knowing the workers would be injured or killed, an appeals court ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans today ruled the drivers’ claims were blocked by the Defense Base Act, a U.S. law that shields military contractors from lawsuits. The drivers were attacked and injured because of their role in support operations for the U.S. Army, which is covered under that statute, the judges said.

“Coverage of an injury under the DBA precludes an employee from recovering from his employer,” even if the worker claims the company was “substantially certain” the injuries would occur, U.S. Circuit Judge Priscilla R. Owen said in a 30-page ruling by the panel.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in CONTRACTOR DEATHS, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, LOGCAP III - KBR. Tags: Defense Base Act, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, Halliburton, Judge Gray Miller, Tommy Fibich. No Comments »

KBR Driver Prevails in Suit Over Convoy Danger in Iraq

Posted on: January 10th, 2012 at 11:44 am — by Ms Sparky

KBR Settles Suit Over Driver’s Claim Company Knew of Danger to Iraq Convoy

By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Laurel Brubaker Calkins – Jan 10, 2012 10:17 AM PT

KBR Inc. (KBR) settled a lawsuit brought by an injured convoy driver who claimed the company sent civilians into a battle zone in Iraq in 2004 knowing they would be attacked and possibly killed, according to a court filing.

Reginald Cecil Lane, the driver, reached a “confidential settlement” with KBR and its former parent, Halliburton Co. (HAL), his lawyer, Tommy Fibich, said yesterday in court papers. Lane and the defendants asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, according to the filing.

“Lane was severely injured in the attack, and his wife died during the pendency of the case,” Fibich said today in a phone interview. He declined to comment further on the settlement, citing the confidentiality agreement.

KBR, a Houston-based government contractor, was also sued by the families of seven drivers who were killed in Iraq. The company is appealing a ruling by U.S. District Judge Gray Miller in Houston allowing the suits to go forward. The other claims haven’t been settled, Scott Allen, a lawyer for the families, said today in a phone interview.

Sharon Bolen, a KBR spokeswoman, didn’t immediately comment on the settlement with Lane, which was reached in late December, according to appeals court records. Beverly Stafford, a Halliburton spokeswoman, didn’t immediately respond to a call or e-mail seeking comment on the settlement.

Recruited Workers
The drivers and their families claim KBR officials fraudulently recruited workers for safe jobs in Iraq and intentionally sent unarmed civilians into a recognized combat zone in April 2004. The military-supply contract gave company officials the right to refuse assignments deemed too dangerous for civilians, according to the complaints. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in CONTRACTOR DEATHS, Fisher vs KBR, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR. Tags: David Kasanow, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, Halliburton, Judge Gray Miller, Lane vs KBR, Lawrence Ebner, Reginald Cecil Lane, Sharon Bolen, Tommy Fibich. No Comments »

DynCorp, EEOC settle harassment, retaliation suit

Posted on: January 10th, 2012 at 4:19 am — by Forseti

Retaliation was the most common discrimination charge against a federal employer last year, according to a report by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ~ Jolie Lee, Federal News Radio

Ruben Gomez – (Federal News Radio) – January 9, 2012 – Virginia-based Dyncorp International will pay $155,000 to settle a sex-based harassment and retaliation lawsuit, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission said Monday.

The EEOC suit alleged that a male employee harassed James Friso, an aircraft and sheet metal/structural mechanic working in Iraq, because Friso did not meet “the harasser’s gender stereotype for a man,” according to an EEOC statement.

“The harassment included daily derogatory sex-based comments, such as accusations that Friso was gay and engaged in homosexual acts, and descriptions of homosexual acts,” the statement said. “Friso is married, and the co-worker who subjected him to the comments knew that he is married and is not homosexual.”

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, LOGCAP-Dyncorp, Rape, Hazing, Discrimination & Harassment. Tags: DynCorp*, EEOC, Franken Amendment*, James Frisco, Sexual Harassment, Title VII. 1 Comment »

Charging forward and other news

Posted on: January 9th, 2012 at 7:51 am — by Forseti

Michael Riddle once served as a senior employment manager for Dyncorp International, Incorporated (“Dyncorp”). He alleges that Dyncorp contracted to create a database for the United States government, but took no meaningful steps toward fulfilling its obligations. He further alleges that when he protested Dyncorp’s inaction on the database project, he was marginalized at work and eventually terminated, on September 21, 2009.

The judgment of the district court is REVERSED and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings. ~ January 5, 2012 – RIDDLE v. DYNCORP INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED (Case No. 11-10155)

Defense firm cuts 200 jobs locally
Thomas Gnau - (Dayton Daily News) – January 7, 2012 — Computer Sciences Corp. said Friday it will remove more than 200 employees and contractors from their jobs with a government computer modernization project.

Heather Williams, a spokeswoman for Falls Church, Va.-based CSC, said she could not say how many of those people will be reassigned or laid off.

“I think that’s possible for anybody,” Williams said.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Judge allows late documents but penalizes victims in Qarmat Ali suit againt KBR

Posted on: January 6th, 2012 at 7:55 am — by Ms Sparky

Let me get this straight, Judge Papak is allowing KBR to bill the soldiers and surviving family members for legal fees that the taxpayer is obligated to pay because the Pentagon, in their infinite wisdom, gave KBR an indemnity clause in their contract that covers their corporate ass even if the company is proven to be at fault or liable! If KBR isn’t footing the bill for this litigation in the first place what legal expenses have they incurred?

I have to believe that Judge Papak made this decision based on the letter of the law and to avoid grounds for appeal as this case moves forward. However, this is the second time a judge has allowed these corporate vultures to collect money from plaintiffs aka victims for legal fees. You have to know that the merry band of misfits KBR calls managers have added this tidbit to their arsenal of threats right along side “chicken or pasta.”

What’s next, a “fact sheet” touting how the company is saving the taxpayer money by recouping legal fees from injured soldiers and the survivors of those that have died; at the hands of companies who were hired to serve and protect our warriors serving the United States in a combat zone? ~Ms Sparky

National Guardsmen to Pay for Late Maneuver
Nick McCann – (Courthouse News) – PORTLAND, Ore. – January 4, 2011 – A group of Oregon National Guard members who say KBR exposed them to toxic sodium dichromate at an Iraqi water-treatment plant are on the hook for part of the defense contractor’s legal fees, a federal judge ruled. (Read the rest of the story here…)