Lawsuit is filed in Iraq death:Daughter claims Halliburton, KBR used her f

[Judi Lynn]

March 30, 2005, 9:01PM

Lawsuit is filed in Iraq death
Daughter claims Halliburton, KBR used her father as trucking decoy
By SHANNON BUGGS
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The daughter of a truck driver killed during the deadliest clash in the Iraq war involving American contractors has filed a federal lawsuit against Halliburton Co. and its subsidiary, KBR, alleging that the Houston-based firms failed to protect her father.

Tony Johnson of Riverside, Calif., was 47 when he was killed April 9, 2004. He died while driving a truck carrying jet fuel in a convoy of 26 vehicles from a military camp to Baghdad International Airport.
(snip)

The lawsuit, which was filed by Johnson's daughter, April Johnson, is the first of several expected to be filed by the civilian survivors and the families of those who died in Iraq.

In her lawsuit, filed in Santa Ana, Calif., Johnson alleges that Halliburton ignored warnings from the military and its own personnel about the dangers on the road her father was ordered to drive on the day he died.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3110324
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[Hekate]

1. Best of luck to her...

in this righteous cause; she'll need it

Hekate

[scarletlib]

5. 2nd that

[democrank]

2. Heard about this last night

on Democracy Now. Apparently the travel days for this death highway are color coded with "black" signifying...stay off the road. Halliburton sometimes insists that drivers run that road even on "black" days. Also reported was the fact that Halliburton will use "third world" contractors (they have less human value, you know) for this dangerous mission.

[American in Asia]

4. yep - including a lot from Asia

who are recruited by other subcontractors as drivers for, say, Kuwait. Lured by the possibility of earning double or triple what they could per month in their own countries, they scrape together their life savings and often take big loans just in order to get the job and cover the travel costs. They only find out after they're there with no real recourse that they're heading to Iraq. If they're injured or die, of course, there's no insurance and their family is destitute. And of course the companies know these folks won't complain, much less sue. Bastards. :grr:

[ClintonTyree]

3. It's just part of doing business................

you can't blame KBR for every little thing that happens. It's the balance sheet that makes the difference in the long run. If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs. :sarcasm:

Best of luck to her, she'll be up against some of the most ruthless lawyers in the world defending KBR. My guess is that they'll try to settle out of court for some paltry sum, paltry to them anyway.

I know people thought there was a chance to make a killing (no pun intended) in Iraq after the "war", but I cannot understand why anyone would put themselves in that kind of risk situation for money. It's all about the money, from EVERY side. I don't know this guy's story, but he should never have put himself in that position in the first place.

There isn't enough money in the world that could entice me into Iraq, for ANY purpose.

[Hekate]

6. So many Americans are out of work &/or in debt up to their eyeballs

Or underemployed, or outsourced. There's a lot of reasons someone would want to take a job with a fantastic salary for a year or two. Maybe there's no old-age pension waiting when they have to retire in 10 or 15 years. Pay off the mortgage in one fell swoop. Maybe the kids want to go to college instead of enlisting.

I'm sure that in the beginning no one really thought this was going to be as dangerous as it has turned out to be -- after all, we have the US Marines and US Army to keep a lid on things, right? I'm sure that even today the people who do the hiring for KBR are downplaying the dangers -- surely we've turned the corner since the Iraqi election, right?

My sympathies to people who spin this particular roullette wheel. They are being used with callous disregard.

Hekate