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KBR & Halliburton Accused in Class Action
Headline Legal News |
2009/01/28 09:12
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KBR, Kellogg Brown & Root and Halliburton knowingly exposed U.S. troops to water contaminated by sewage and made soldiers sick by burning toxic waste unsafely, a class action claims in Montgomery County Court. The class claims that when KBR found it was giving troops contaminated water, it told its water quality specialist "to concern himself only with the health and safety of KBR personnel."
The class claims KBR earned $4.8 billion in Iraq in 2006 - 45% of the company's revenue that year - and that the defendants "acted egregiously merely to make more money for themselves."
The complaint cites a 2008 report from the Defense Department's Inspector General that confirmed that KBR supplied unsafe water to U.S. troops. It cites a 2006 report from KBR itself that found KBR's failure to disinfect water "caused an unknown population to be exposed to potentially harmful water for an undetermined period of time," and that "the deficiencies of the camp where the event occurred is not exclusive to that camp, meaning that countrywide, all camps suffer to some extent from all or some of the deficiencies noted."
They claim KBR's report admitted that the company kept little or no documentation on its water safety, standards or procedures.
The complaint states: "Former KBT employees and water quality specialist Ben Carter and Ken May told Halliburton Watch that KBR knowingly exposed troops and civilians to contaminated water from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Ben Carter, a water quality specialist who worked for KBR at Junction city, testified that he tested water and found it was polluted with sewage and other contamination and that it was not being chlorinated. He then treated the tanks for the KBR employees and told company managers the military should be alerted so they could treat their tanks as well. Carter told the media that he was ordered by his KBR supervisor to concern himself only with the health and safety of KBR personnel. KBR was supposed to test the water three times daily to confirm safety but, according to Carter, such testing never occurred."
The class seeks medical monitoring and punitive damages for negligence, breach of duty, willful and wanton conduct, and other charges. They are represented by William O'Neil with Burke O'Neil of Washington, D.C. |
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Testing firm sues NYC to lift license suspensions
Headline Legal News |
2009/01/27 15:15
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| A company accused of faking tests on concrete and steel at the new Yankee Stadium, the Freedom Tower and over 100 other projects is suing New York City to lift suspensions of their licenses. Testwell Inc. asserts in state Supreme Court papers that the city suspended its licenses "unlawfully" in October after the company was indicted on enterprise corruption charges. Testwell says the charges have not been proven. Testwell says an administrative law judge recommended lifting the suspensions but last week the city rejected that recommendation. The city Law Department says it is reviewing Testwell's court papers. The city has been attempting to retest concrete and steel handled by Testwell on some buildings, although prosecutors say no weaknesses have been found. |
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Six-figure Cabinet jobs sometimes mean a pay cut
Opinions |
2009/01/27 15:15
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| Jobs in President Barack Obama's Cabinet come with a pay cut for some of his appointees, who made millions from investments and lucrative careers in law, lobbying and business before joining his administration, according to financial reports the government released Tuesday. At least one must sell stock to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Obama's choice for deputy defense secretary, William J. Lynn, until recently a lobbyist for military contractor Raytheon, holds Raytheon incentive stock valued at $500,001 to $1 million, the documents show. The stock is due to vest next month. He has Raytheon "unvested restricted stock" worth $250,001 to $500,000. Lynn has said he will sell the stock. He received a salary of $369,615 last year as a Raytheon senior vice president, and is expecting a 2008 cash bonus of $100,001 to $250,000 to be paid this March, his report shows. Obama has given Lynn a waiver from ethics rules banning employees from taking part in decisions related to their former employers for two years and prohibiting them from taking jobs in agencies they recently lobbied. If he is confirmed as expected, Lynn will be subject to ethics reviews for one year. Government ethics rules require senior administration officials to provide details annually on their personal finances. The reports include descriptions of assets, income and debt — typically given in ranges rather than exact amounts — and lists of gifts and any outside positions. The disclosures are intended to shine a light on and help avoid any potential conflicts of interest. The report for Obama's nominee to become attorney general, Eric Holder, shows he received $3.3 million, including deferred compensation, as a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling, far more than the $196,700 he would make as a member of Obama's Cabinet. He anticipates receiving a $1 million to $5 million partner separation payment when he leaves the firm. |
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FBI: Long Island investment firm boss surrenders
Topics in Legal News |
2009/01/26 15:15
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| The owner of a Long Island investment firm accused of cheating people out of more than $100 million is expected to appear in court Tuesday. FBI spokesman Jim Margolin says Nicholas Cosmo surrendered at a U.S. Postal Inspection Service office in Hicksville on Monday night. Cosmo runs Agape World Inc. in Hauppauge (HAW'-pawg). He's accused of taking in $300 million from investors and cheating them out of about $140 million. A letter hanging in Cosmo's office window denies there was any Ponzi scheme, the type of fraud Bernard Madoff (MAY'-dawf) is accused of committing. A Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme promises unusually high returns and pays early investors with money from later investors. Defense attorneys at the Herrick Feinstein law firm haven't returned telephone calls seeking comment. |
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Cheney Has Discretion Over Records
Politics |
2009/01/20 09:16
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A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that, despite the government's "constantly shifting positions," a coalition of historians and archivists were unable to prove that outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney and his office staff intended to illegally destroy records at the end of his eight-year term.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said she was "bound to apply the Presidential Records Act (PRA) as Congress enacted it, which provides only narrow areas of oversight relating to the Vice President's document preservation decisions."
Plaintiffs, led by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, accused Cheney of changing the definition of vice-presidential records, which would allow his office to destroy records that were supposed to be preserved.
Judge Kollar-Kotelly first determined that the PRA does not preclude judicial review of the plaintiffs' claims.
"The court finds that it 'borders on the absurd' to believe that Congress statutorily defined Vice-Presidential records and required the Vice President to implement steps to preserve them, but denied any judicial review to prevent the Vice President from using a different definition for Vice-Presidential records," Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
She then ruled that although the plaintiffs brought "legally cognizable" claims under the Mandamus Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act, she was required to rule for the defendants.
The plaintiffs deposed a senior White House aide, who testified that Cheney and his office were fully complying with their obligations under the PRA.
"Plaintiffs were unable to rebut this representation through their discovery," Kollar-Kotelly wrote. "The Court therefore has no basis on which to award Plaintiffs relief against the Vice President and the Office of the Vice President."
She dismissed claims against the Executive Office of the President, because it was not in charge of document classification or preservation.
"It is clear, as Defendants emphasize, that the Vice President has discretion concerning the decision to create or dispose of Vice-Presidential records, and even how he chooses to preserve them."
Kollar-Kotelly also dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against the U.S. Archivist and the National Archives & Records Administration, because they have limited roles during the vice president's term in office.
The decision vacates a September 2008 order requiring the defendants to preserve the records while the case was pending. |
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