Another KBR Rape Story

The Nation is reporting that another KBR employee has said she was raped while working for the company in Iraq in January of 2008. In December of 2007, ABC News ran a story about Jamie Leigh Jones, who says she was "gang-raped" by Halliburton/KBR co-workers while in Baghdad. Since then, eleven other women have come forward to say they were assaulted.

In the Jamie Leigh Jones story, ABC news reported that she was "raped by multiple men at a KBR camp," and that, "Jones says she was held in the shipping container for at least 24 hours without food or water by KBR, which posted armed security guards outside her door, who would not let her leave." Jones also says that she was threatened by her employers and told not to come forward with her story. Furthermore, Jones and the other victims may be forced to settle their claims through arbitration.

According to ABC News:

KBR has moved for Jones' claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom. It says her employment contract requires it.

In arbitration, there is no public record nor transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Jones' claims would not be heard before a judge and jury. Rather, a private arbitrator would decide Jones' case. In recent testimony before Congress, employment lawyer Cathy Ventrell-Monsees said that Halliburton won more than 80 percent of arbitration proceedings brought against it.

From The Nation's article:

Likewise, the company is pressuring Lisa Smith into pursuing her claims against the company through its Dispute Resolution Program based on the contract she signed before she went to Iraq. Critics argue that the company's arbitration system allows it to minimize bad publicity and lets assailants off the hook.