More Proof our Justice system is broken: KBR poisons troops, bullies them in court

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n 2003, 300 National Guard members from Oregon got sent to Iraq to help Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) — a defense contractor with ties to then-Vice President Dick Cheney — repair the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant. There, KBR carelessly exposed them to hexavalent chromium, a dangerous chemical known for causing asthma, lung cancer, and other serious, life-threatening ailments. When soldiers expressed concern, KBR told them they had “sand allergies.” When a trooper entered a room with torn bags of sodium dichromate — a yellow powder compound used to purify water — the folks from KBR assured him the noxious stuff that felt like “snorting pepper” was just a “mild irritant.” Within months, as Oregon Live reports, a rash of dire health issues forced a KBR safety manager to shut the plant down.

After winning an $85 million judgement against KBR in Oregon, the company struck back:

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Alas, our veterans’ victory was short-lived. According to The Fifth Column, KBR challenged the ruling in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the decision. Why? The three-judge panel bizarrely cited a SCOTUS ruling on a totally unrelated case involving the 4th Amendment and illegal search and seizure to claim the state of Oregon has no jurisdiction over KBR. That’s right. The judges from 9th Circuit Court of Appeals claim a state court and its jurors has no right to protect their citizens, demand a neglugrnt company pay for harming our veterans, or hold our nation’s giant, predatory corporations accountable for their abuses.

While the veterans were slogging through a new round of filings in Texas (good luck finding justice against a corporation in THAT state, btw), KBR decided to rub salt in and pour alcohol on the proverbial wound by launching a $850,000 counter-suit for legal fees.

And just to be complete and utter douche-bags about it:

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KBR claims the U.S. government has to bail them out of this mess, because they have a secret indemnity agreement with the Pentagon! That’s right. The folks at KBR created this mess by being too cheap and sleazy to bother complying with laws requiring them to protect their workers from harm, and now they expect US to pay their **** legal fees and other costs. But guess what? We, the people, never signed up for this.

It just gets worse and worse.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1JLngp7