Sexual assault and harassment lawsuits
Jamie Leigh Jones alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped by KBR coworkers while working in Iraq in 2005.[120] Her allegations drew international attention and highlighted the use of mandatory arbitration clauses that blocked employees from pursuing sexual assault cases in court. In July 2011, a federal jury in Houston ruled against Jones, concluding that she had not proven her claims by the civil standard of evidence. Jones has never retracted her allegations, but the verdict cleared KBR of liability.[121][122] Her case led Senator Al Franken to propose an amendment to the 2010 defense appropriations bill, which was passed in October 2009, allowing employees of firms with government contracts to take sexual assault and harassment claims to court.[123]
That same year, Christina Ricz alleged that she was sexually assaulted by her KBR supervisor and filed a civil lawsuit; the case was later dismissed without reaching trial.[124] Her case was one of several, along with those of Jones and Leamon, that drew attention to KBR's use of mandatory arbitration clauses, which prevented employees from bringing sexual assault claims to open court.[125]
Additional cases surfaced in the same period. In 2005, a former employee known publicly as "Dawn Leamon" reported being raped by a coworker while on assignment in Iraq and later filed a lawsuit. In 2009, Tracy Barker secured a nearly $3 million arbitration award against KBR, following her report that she was raped at a company camp in Iraq in 2005.[126][127]
Jo Frederiksen, another female employee, filed a lawsuit claiming she was “inappropriately touched, stalked, intimidated and verbally harassed” during her time with the firm in 2003. According to Frederiksen, after she complained she was moved to an even more hostile location while some of her abusers were promoted. Her lawsuit also alleged widespread tolerance of prostitution and human trafficking among KBR employees.[128]
Reported harassment and complaints
In 2008, congressional hearings examined allegations of sexual assault and harassment involving employees of KBR and other military contractors. Legislators cited dozens of complaints from female employees, raising concerns about the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in KBR contracts that had previously prevented victims from pursuing cases in court.[129][130]
Other women also alleged abuse while working for KBR. Mary Beth Kineston, an Ohio truck driver, said she was sexually harassed and groped by several KBR employees, and was later fired after reporting the threats and harassment endured by female employees.[131]
Human trafficking lawsuit
On August 28, 2008, KBR and a Jordanian subcontractor were accused of human trafficking in a federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.[132] The suit alleged that 13 Nepali men were recruited by Daoud & Partners to work in hotels and restaurants in Jordan, but upon arrival, all 13 men had their passports seized by the contractor and were sent to Iraq to work on the Al Asad Airbase. Twelve of the employees were abducted when their unprotected convoy was attacked by a group calling itself the Army of Ansar al-Sunna, while en route to the base. Shortly thereafter, a video was released of one of the men being beheaded and the other 11 shot. The remaining employee, Buddi Prasad Gurung, claims to have been held against his will for 15 months, during which time he was forced to work at the base.[133][134] Reuters quoted attorney Matthew Handley as saying, "It doesn't appear that any of them knew they were going to Iraq." KBR made no public comment on the lawsuit, but released a statement which stated in part that it "in no way condones or tolerates unethical or illegal behavior."[135]
In 2017, a U.S. appeals court refused to hold KBR liable for alleged human trafficking in connection with the 2004 kidnapping and murder by insurgents of 12 Nepali men.
"Burn pits" lawsuits
Alan Metzgar et al v. KBR Inc. are a collection of lawsuits from plaintiffs who said they developed respiratory illnesses, neurological disorders, cancer, and skin diseases from living and working near open-air burn pits operated by KBR in Iraq and Afghanistan.[137]
In 2013, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed the suits.[137] However, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and sent the litigation back to court in early 2014. KBR maintained that it did not operate the primary burn pit mentioned in the suits and said that other environmental factors in combat zones could have contributed to troop health problems.[137]
Questionable charges
In December 2008, the Senate Armed Services Committee requested an investigation into Kellogg Brown and Root because of accusations from a retired Army official, Charles M. Smith, who had managed the company’s work in Iraq. He alleged that KBR lacked credible records to support more than $200 million in spending.[138] A KBR spokeswoman said that the company would cooperate with any government investigation.[138]
Shell companies in Cayman Islands
According to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in 2008, KBR had two subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands that were used to reduce the company's tax payments. CBS News reported that this was legal, and a practice of many contractors, but that lawmakers wanted to end the practice.[139]
Bribing Nigerian officials
KBR admitted to paying bribes to high-ranking Nigerian officials between 1994 and 2004 to secure contracts to build and expand Nigeria's Bonny Island liquefied natural gas terminal.[140] KBR and Halliburton paid a $402 million fine to the U.S. Justice Department, of which Halliburton paid $382 million.[140] In a separate settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Halliburton paid $177 million in profits to settle charges that KBR had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).[140]
Former CEO Albert Jackson Stanley, who ran KBR when it was a subsidiary to Halliburton, was sentenced to 30 months in prison via plea agreement.[141][142]
Waxman allegations
KBR was accused of inflating prices for importing gasoline into Iraq.[143] At the time KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton, and Halliburton reported that the allegations distorted the truth.[144]
Professional negligence
The case Harris v. KBR Inc. is a lawsuit over the death of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth who was electrocuted while taking a shower in Baghdad in 2008.[137] The suit was filed by Maseth’s mother. She alleged that poor electrical work and maintenance on the part of KBR caused the death because the water pump in the shower was not grounded.[137] In 2013, a trial judge made the decision to dismiss the case, but the decision was overturned by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.[137] KBR counsel Mark Lowes said that the company "warned the Army that existing buildings in Iraq posed danger to troops and there was no evidence KBR installed the pump."[137][145][146]
Employee safety in warzones
As of June 9, 2008, 81 American and foreign KBR employees and subcontractors have been killed, and more than 380 have been wounded by hostile action while performing services under the company's government contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Family members of injured or killed employees have sued the company in relation to the 2004 Iraq KBR convoy ambush.[147]
Late payment
In the UK in April 2019, Kellogg Brown & Root was suspended from the UK Government's Prompt Payment Code for failing to pay suppliers on time.[148]
Employment Dispute
On September 16, 2022, the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers Secretary, Susan Ople, confirmed a Washington Post report that 800 Filipino workers were stuck at a remote US military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean due to an employment dispute with KBR.[149] DMW Ople reported, “They are stranded in the sense that they can't go on vacation. They are afraid that if they go home to the Philippines, the POEA won't let them come back, or they'll be fired from work.” KBR said that the Filipino workers were able to take military flights to Japan and Bahrain, and that KBR then covered the cost of their onward travel to the Philippines.[149]
