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Posted in Consumer & Class Action Blog, General Blog

Arbitration Clause Prevents Rape Victim Jamie Jones from Day in Court – Halliburton

December 21st, 2007 by John Campbell

Jamie Leigh Jones, now 23, testified before the House of Representatives that she was gang raped inside the Baghdad Green Zone in July 2005 while she was working for the Halliburton subsidiary KBR Inc, which has support contracts with the US military.

Jones recounted a horrifying story of agreeing to have a drink with coworkers, taking two sips from her drink, and then waking up the next morning with no memory of the night before.  She had a sore chest and there was evidence of a brutal gang rape.  She reported the incident to KBR and was examined by an army doctor who confirmed she was raped multiple times and who took pictures of the injuries. 

KBR’s response to the rapes was to take Jamie to a trailer and to lock her in a room with two armed guards.  Finally, one of the guards let her use a phone.  She called her father, who called his representative in Congress, Republican Ted Poe.  Mr. Poe took action and Jamie was rescued and flown back to Texas.

So what does this have to do with arbitration? The answer should be “nothing,” but sadly it is not.  Under Dick Cheney’s leadership, Halliburton instituted a policy which required all employees to agree to mandatory arbitration. The policy was billed as a “perk” that would create an “open door” policy.  What it actually did was dry up the string of lawsuits in which Halliburton was habitually held liable for discrimination and retaliation based firings and provide Halliburton with the secrecy of arbitration. 

As a result of the “dispute resolution clause” included by Halliburton, if the clause is enforced, Ms. Jones won’t be able to sue Halliburton or the monsters who raped her in a court to recover damages for the trauma.  Even though her rape was so brutal that she is still undergoing reconstructive surgery, a jury will never hear those facts in a civil case.  Instead, she’ll go before an arbitrator under a clause that requires secrecy, does not demand a written opinion, and sets no precedent.
I’ve been writing that arbitration clauses are dangerous when they are slipped into contracts in the employment and consumer sector.  This is one of the most striking examples I have heard of to date. Please support the Arbitration Fairness Act which would eliminate pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration clauses from employment contracts, consumer contracts as well as a variety of other contracts that are not meaningfully negotiated.  (click here for the text of the Act) and fight to preserve people’s right to their day in court.  You can write your representatives and support the Arbitration Fairness Act by clicking here.  The letter can be customized and will automatically be sent to the appropriate representatives.  To read the details about Ms. Jones you can click here to read a an article appearing in Mother Jones or here. to see what is being said abroad in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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