Naked, Sore, Bruised and Bleeding: Alleged U.S. Contractor Rape Victim Fights for Day in Court
Senate Passes Amendment to Stop Contractors From Forcing Employees into Arbitration
By JOHN R. PARKINSON, The Blotter, Oct. 7, 2009
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Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old young woman working her fourth day on the job in Baghdad for contractor Halliburton/KBR in 2005, when she says she was drugged and gang-raped by seven U.S contractors and held captive by two KBR guards in a shipping container. But more than four years after the alleged crimes occurred, Jones is still waiting for her day in court because when she signed her employment contract, she lost her rights to a jury trial and, instead, was forced into having her claims decided through secret, binding arbitration.

Today, the Senate listened to her story before approving an amendment by a vote of 68-30 that would prohibit "the Defense Department from contracting with companies that require employees to resolve sexual assault allegations and other claims through arbitration."

"I didn't even know that I had signed such a clause, but even if I had known, I would never have guessed that it would prevent me from bringing my claims to court after being brutally sexually harassed and assaulted," Jones, who told her story to ABC News' Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross in an award-winning 20/20 story, testified at the Senate committee meeting on the issue. "I had no idea that the clause was part of the contract, what the clause actually meant, or that I would eventually end up in this horrible situation."

At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) estimated that at least 30 million workers have unknowingly signed employment contracts and waived their constitutional rights to have their civil rights claims resolved by a jury. An arbitration act passed by Congress, Leahy said, was meant to "provide sophisticated businesses an alternative venue to resolve their disputes" but instead has "become a hammer for corporations to use against their employees."

"There is no rule of law in arbitration," Leahy said. "There are no juries or independent judges in the arbitrations industry. There is no appellate review. There is no transparency. And&(for) Jamie Leigh Jones there is no justice."

Jones told the committee that the system of forcing employees to sign employee contracts that contain clauses for mandatory, confidential and binding arbitration - before any potential disputes even arise - keeps evidence from ever coming to public light and enables large corporations like Halliburton to adopt arbitration as a venue to wipe the record clean of disputes.

Senate Judiciary Committee

She said the proceedings do not need to be secret and that they should be heard in an open court - where they'll become public record. "If women before me," she said, "if they were able to go before a judge and jury, that would have been public record, and I would have known before I went to Iraq what I was getting into."

The Senate Judiciary Committee meeting was to examine the effects of a recent Supreme Court decision -- Circuit City v. Adams. In 2001 in Circuit City, the Supreme Court expanded the reach of employees who are required to address disputes through arbitration rather than in court.

Leahy said the Court's decision in Circuit City undermines the effective enforcement of civil rights laws, and by extending the force of the arbitration act, the Court made employment contract arbitration provisions enforceable, thus enabling employers to strip employees of their civil rights by including arbitration clauses in employment contracts.

Mark de Bernardo, the executive director of the Council for Employment Law Equity defended the use of arbitration as "decisively in the employees' best interests," and as an inexpensive alternative to jury trials.

"(Alternative Dispute Resolution) is an effective tool for both management and employees," de Bernardo said. "The opponents of arbitration have simply not demonstrated that the drastic, sweeping changes they seek to enact are necessary and/or appropriate. To the contrary, for the average employee, the elimination of arbitration will do more harm than good."

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), who sponsored the amendment, clashed repeatedly with de Bernardo, questioning how arbitration could possibly help someone in Jones' situation.

"This took place in Iraq, at that time she had no recourse, sir!" Franken roared. "She has not had her day in court, she has litigated for four years to have her day in court. She was drugged, she was raped, and she had to have reconstructive surgery. If that's a better workplace, what was the workplace like before?"

The Senate is expected to vote later on the larger defense bill, to which Franken's sponsored amendment is attached.

Halliburton Contractors

Jones recalls standing outside her barracks in the Green Zone with several Halliburton firefighters when one male offered her a drink, saying she shouldn't worry because he had "saved all his ruffies for Dubai."

"I naively took the drink. I remember nothing after taking a couple of sips," Jones testified today. "When I awoke in my room the next morning, I was naked, I was sore, I was bruised and I was bleeding. I was groggy and confused and didn't know why."

Jones, suspecting she had been raped, went to the bathroom to assess her injuries. When she returned, she says she found one of her attackers still there, lying naked in her bed. After reporting the incident to a KBR operations coordinator, Jones was taken to a Combat Army Support Hospital, where she says a rape kit revealed she had been raped vaginally and anally by multiple perpetrators.

Jones says she was then locked in a shipping container with two armed guards stationed outside and not permitted to leave or contact anyone. Eventually she convinced a guard to let her use his cell phone. She called her father, who contacted Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX), who then dispatched State Department officials to ensure her release and return to the U.S.

But she says her suffering was far from over.

Last month the Fifth Circuit ruled that four of Jones's claims against Halliburton related to the alleged rape were not covered by the clause in her employment contract. However, her claims of discrimination under Title VII are still being forced into an arbitration proceeding.

"It's an injustice for me, for all future daughters, sisters, wives who don't know. It's a big injustice," Jones says. "Four years to fight to get in court is not a day in court."

Megan Chuchmach contributed to this report.

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Jamie Leigh Jones (born 1984) is a former KBR employee who claims that seven KBR employees drugged and gang-raped her on July 28, 2005 at Camp Hope, Baghdad, Iraq. She has filed a lawsuit against the company and the employees.

She is the founder of the Jamie Leigh Foundation, an advocacy agency for victims of sexual assault.

Jones began working for KBR as an administrative assistant in 2004 when she was 19, and started her contract of employment with Overseas Administrative Services, Ltd. in Houston, Texas on July 21, 2005.

According to Jones, on July 28, 2005, several KBR offered her a drink containing a date rape drug, of which she took two sips. The men then engaged in unprotected anal and vaginal gang-rape upon her while she was unconscious. She was able to name one of her attackers based on his confession to her, but was unable to identify the others due to her unconsiousness. Further, the lawsuit filed by Jones' attorneys cites the following: "When she awoke the next morning still affected by the drug, she found her body naked and severely bruised, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, blood running down her leg, her breast implants ruptured, and her pectoral muscles torn – which would later require reconstructive surgery. Upon walking to the rest room, she passed out again." Jones' account was confirmed by U.S. Army physician Jodi Schultz. Schultz gave the rape kit she used to gather evidence from Jones to KBR/Halliburton security forces, after which the rape kit disappeared (though it was recovered later).

Jones was confined by armed guards to a shipping container containing only a bed, under the orders of her employer, KBR. She says she was denied food, water, and medical treatment. After approximately one day, says Jones, a sympathetic guard gave her a cell phone and she called her father, Tom, who in turn contacted Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) who contacted the State Department. Agents were dispatched from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and removed Jones from KBR custody.

In May 2007, a State Department diplomat recovered the rape kit from Halliburton and KBR. However, notes and photographs taken by Schultz (of Jones the morning following her rape) were missing, undermining any chances of bringing the case through the criminal courts.

Involvement in civil lawsuit
In the complaint filed by Jones, her husband, and their attorneys, only one assailant is named in the incident. On the morning following the rape, the named assailant admitted to Jones that he had had unprotected sex with her. However, Jones claims that due to unconsciousness, she is unable to identify the other rapists.

Subsequent life

After returning to the United States, Jones has worked with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Justice, several attorneys, and State of Texas Workmen 's Compensation and the Assistant United States Attorney.

She obtained an Associates of Art degree from North Harris College in 2007. Presently, Jones is pursuing a Bachelors of Criminal Justice, American Military University, to be completed in March 2008.

Jones met naval officer Joseph Kallan Daigle in 2005, and the two married in September 2006.

Inaction by the United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought no criminal charges against the alleged assailants. Because of CPA Order 17, which limits the power of the Iraqi government to pursue legal action against foreign contractors working in Iraq, it is possible that her assailants may not face any legal penalty for the alleged crime - at least by the Iraqi government itself.

However, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 1, § 7, of the United States Code, entitled "Special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States defined," the United States has jurisdiction over the following:

"(7) Any place outside the jurisdiction of any nation with respect to an offense by or against a national of the United States."
Because CPA Order 17 provides limited immunity for U.S. contractors from the Iraqi government, this offense may be outside Iraqi government's jurisdiction. Therefore, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 1, § 7, paragraph 7, of the United States Code, would apply because Jones is a national of the United States.

Further, on December 19, 2007, during Jones' testimony, Congressman Robert Scott (D-VA) stated that the DOJ "can enforce with respect to contractors who commit crimes abroad, but it chooses not to."

Moreover, Poe—a former judge—stated, in a recent interview, that the United States has jurisdiction over U.S. contractors in the following:

"Well, I agree with Brian that there is jurisdiction—that the United States government has jurisdiction of this case. As a former judge, I agree with him totally. The federal government needs to pursue it."

Pending civil lawsuit

On May 16, 2007, Jones filed a civil lawsuit against KBR and former parent corporation Halliburton. KBR requested a private arbitration, and claims this is required by her employment contract. On September 15, 2009 the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Jamie Leigh Jones' federal lawsuit against KBR and several affiliates can be tried in open court.

Testimony before Congress

On December 19, 2007, Jones testified before Congress about her experience of the incident with Congressman Poe.

In response to her testimony, Scott stated that the DOJ "seems to be taking action with respect to enforcement of criminal laws in Iraq only when it is forced to do something by embarrassing media coverage."

Further, the DOJ was subpoenaed to appear before Congress.