U.S. top court rejects appeals by Halliburton, KBR over conduct overseas

Reuters

Published Jan 20, 2015 11:19AM ET

U.S. top court rejects appeals by Halliburton, KBR over conduct overseas

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed lawsuits to move forward against government contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan by declining to hear appeals filed by KBR Inc and Halliburton Co.

The high court left intact appeals court rulings against the two companies in three different cases.

One lawsuit was brought by the family of U.S. Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, who died in 2008 after being electrocuted in his barracks in Iraq. The second was brought by a group of plaintiffs, mainly service members, who said they were injured by smoke from open-air "burn pits" used for waste disposal.

The third lawsuit was brought by soldiers from both the U.S. and Britain who say they were exposed to a potentially dangerous chemical, sodium dichromate, while serving at the Qarmat Ali water treatment facility in southern Iraq.

There are a series of cases against private contractors concerning their liability for actions that took place in Iraq and Afghanistan. Plaintiffs sue companies because the U.S. military generally cannot be sued over such issues. Courts have struggled over whether to allow the lawsuits to proceed.

In the Maseth case, KBR was responsible for maintaining the facility where the soldier died. Likewise, KBR oversaw the Qarmat Ali facility.