Woman sues KBR, claiming it's at fault for a sexual assault

[sabra]

Source: Houston Chron

A co-worker in Iraq convicted of the attack on her

A Houston woman has filed suit against government contracting firm KBR, alleging it created a "sexually violent workplace" that allowed a co-worker to sexually assault her at an Iraqi airbase two years ago.

The woman, now 28, was attacked by co-worker David C. Breda Jr. of Pearland while he was helping her move into new quarters at Camp Al Asad on Oct. 8, 2008. Breda, 35, a former U.S. Army recruiter who had previously been sanctioned for molesting an 18-year-old female recruit, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison in January after he pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman in Iraq.

The lawsuit in a Harris County state district court is the latest in a number of claims brought against Houston-based KBR by employees who say they were attacked by co-workers or others at jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the first was brought by Jamie Leigh Jones, formerly of Conroe, who contends she was gang-raped at a KBR facility in Baghdad in July 2005.

"If you're raising jackals and put a rabbit in the jackal cage, you can't turn your back and say it's the rabbit's fault the jackals attacked," said Todd Kelly, who represents the Houston woman, Jones and four others with claims against KBR. "That's what they're doing. They put young women right in front of these men who have gotten away with this for so long and they turn their back. They do nothing to protect these women."

Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, denied the assertions in the lawsuit and said KBR's top priority is the safety and security of its employees. KBR maintains a strong and effective sexual harassment and assault prevention and reporting program, she said.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7233308.html

[plantwomyn]

1. This same quote

"If you're raising jackals and put a rabbit in the jackal cage, you can't turn your back and say it's the rabbit's fault the jackals attacked," said Todd Kelly, who represents the Houston woman, Jones and four others with claims against KBR. "That's what they're doing. They put young women right in front of these men who have gotten away with this for so long and they turn their back. They do nothing to protect these women."

could be said about the military. Female soldiers use "chamber pots" because they are too afraid to walk to the latrine at night on a military base. Female soldiers have been murdered on military bases in Iraq. When the hell will the military and it's mercenaries be held responsible for this?

[OnyxCollie]

2. K&R. nt

[Dash87]

3. Be all that you can be!

But if you get raped, keep quiet. Boys will be boys, after all. After all, he was just a 35 year old middle-aged man that couldn't help himself.
:sarcasm:

This is a statement on the present state of our armed forces, even if these are technically private companies. Imagine the women that were bullied into not going forward. I guarantee that the number that come forward is a small % of those victimized, and those cases that make it out of the unit are an even smaller %. Recommended for the women who are brutally victimized in the military, and then told by their male superiors (if they aren't the rapists themselves) that they should just keep quiet (or face consequences). :(

♥

[Solly Mack]

4. k/r