After months of fighting and countless hours briefing to the Federal District Judge
in the Southern District of Texas, the Kelly Law Firm is pleased to announce that
on September 15, 2009, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals courageously upheld
District Judge Keith Ellison's ruling allowing Jamie Leigh Jones' rape and false
imprisonment case to be heard by a jury of her peers. This is the first time that the
arbitration provision of Defense Contractor, Halliburton, has been defeated in the
courts. For the complete text of that opinion, click here.
Jamie first went public on the ABC News program, 20/20:
She has since appeared at Congressional Hearings, and on numerous television,
radio and print media sources, speaking out against the sexual abuses of this
corporate giant.
Jamie's story was featured in the September 28, 2009 Texas Lawyer.
in the Southern District of Texas, the Kelly Law Firm is pleased to announce that
on September 15, 2009, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals courageously upheld
District Judge Keith Ellison's ruling allowing Jamie Leigh Jones' rape and false
imprisonment case to be heard by a jury of her peers. This is the first time that the
arbitration provision of Defense Contractor, Halliburton, has been defeated in the
courts. For the complete text of that opinion, click here.
Jamie first went public on the ABC News program, 20/20:
She has since appeared at Congressional Hearings, and on numerous television,
radio and print media sources, speaking out against the sexual abuses of this
corporate giant.
Jamie's story was featured in the September 28, 2009 Texas Lawyer.
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| Call for a FREE case evaluation: (713) 255-2055 |
| Todd poses with his client, Jamie Leigh Jones, at the press conference on the Fairness in Arbitration Act. |
Dear Colleagues:
NPR spoke with Jamie Leigh Jones, who had a harrowing experience as a private contractor in Iraq when she was raped and beaten
by her coworkers. When criminal charges could not be filed, she sought to hold her employer, KBR / Halliburton, accountable for
their misconduct. But a forced arbitration clause buried in her employment agreement meant she could not have a jury trial. Instead,
she would have to go to arbitration, on the corporation's own terms, for a secret, one-sided tribunal. Jamie’s attorney is AAJ member
Todd Kelly of the Kelly Law Firm, and her appellate counsel is John Vail of the Center for Constitutional Litigation.
This article is in the wake of an event held at the end of April by AAJ and other consumer, employment, and civil rights groups to
pass the Arbitration Fairness Act and the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act. These two bills would put an end to binding
mandatory arbitration clauses in certain consumer, employment, franchise, and nursing home care contracts.
On Arbitration Fairness Day, over 30 victims of forced arbitration from targeted states came to DC to lobby for the passage of the bills.
The day was marked with a noon press conference at which the sponsors of the Arbitration Fairness Act, Senator Russ Feingold and
Representative Hank Johnson, spoke about the need for the legislation. Also speaking at the press conference were Jamie and other
individuals who have suffered terrible consequences as the result of forced arbitration.
This is just one example of how our communications and public affairs teams work alongside members of the consumer, civil rights,
and labor communities to garner support for legislation and generate news stories to proactively position AAJ as fighting for the civil
justice system.
Thank you for your continued support.
Best,
Les Weisbrod
AAJ President
NPR spoke with Jamie Leigh Jones, who had a harrowing experience as a private contractor in Iraq when she was raped and beaten
by her coworkers. When criminal charges could not be filed, she sought to hold her employer, KBR / Halliburton, accountable for
their misconduct. But a forced arbitration clause buried in her employment agreement meant she could not have a jury trial. Instead,
she would have to go to arbitration, on the corporation's own terms, for a secret, one-sided tribunal. Jamie’s attorney is AAJ member
Todd Kelly of the Kelly Law Firm, and her appellate counsel is John Vail of the Center for Constitutional Litigation.
This article is in the wake of an event held at the end of April by AAJ and other consumer, employment, and civil rights groups to
pass the Arbitration Fairness Act and the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act. These two bills would put an end to binding
mandatory arbitration clauses in certain consumer, employment, franchise, and nursing home care contracts.
On Arbitration Fairness Day, over 30 victims of forced arbitration from targeted states came to DC to lobby for the passage of the bills.
The day was marked with a noon press conference at which the sponsors of the Arbitration Fairness Act, Senator Russ Feingold and
Representative Hank Johnson, spoke about the need for the legislation. Also speaking at the press conference were Jamie and other
individuals who have suffered terrible consequences as the result of forced arbitration.
This is just one example of how our communications and public affairs teams work alongside members of the consumer, civil rights,
and labor communities to garner support for legislation and generate news stories to proactively position AAJ as fighting for the civil
justice system.
Thank you for your continued support.
Best,
Les Weisbrod
AAJ President
Wed, 06/10/2009 - 16:25 —
Steven J. Margolis, Esq.
Jamie Leigh Jones will get her day in court. Todd Kelly, Esq. of the Kelly Law Firm in Houston, Texas, after months of fighting and
countless hours briefing to the Federal District Judge in the Southern District of Texas, was able to defeat the arbitration provision in
the Halliburton contract. Judge Ellison will allow Jamie Leigh Jones' rape and false imprisonment case to be heard by a jury. This is
the first time that the arbitration provision of Defense Contractor, Halliburton, has been defeated in the courts. I have known attorney
Todd Kelly for a long time as both a co-worker (before he began the Kelly Firm) and as friend. He has won this first round and he
has spoken before congress in support of the "fairness in arbitration" Act. But WE ALL NEED TO SPEAK TO OUR SENATORS
AND REPRESENTATIVES asking for their support of this important legislation!
Steven J. Margolis, Esq.
Jamie Leigh Jones will get her day in court. Todd Kelly, Esq. of the Kelly Law Firm in Houston, Texas, after months of fighting and
countless hours briefing to the Federal District Judge in the Southern District of Texas, was able to defeat the arbitration provision in
the Halliburton contract. Judge Ellison will allow Jamie Leigh Jones' rape and false imprisonment case to be heard by a jury. This is
the first time that the arbitration provision of Defense Contractor, Halliburton, has been defeated in the courts. I have known attorney
Todd Kelly for a long time as both a co-worker (before he began the Kelly Firm) and as friend. He has won this first round and he
has spoken before congress in support of the "fairness in arbitration" Act. But WE ALL NEED TO SPEAK TO OUR SENATORS
AND REPRESENTATIVES asking for their support of this important legislation!
Jamie Leigh Jones, A former Halliburton/KBR worker who claims she was gang-raped in her bedroom by co-workers
in Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a 2-1 ruling, the judges decided that the allegations made by Jamie Leigh Jones of Houston were not subject to the
arbitration clause in her employment contract, meaning Jones' civil lawsuit against Halliburton, KBR and affiliates can
proceed in court to a possible trial. The primary question before the court was whether the alleged rape and Jones'
other claims were related to her employment and whether the alleged attack took place at an official workplace.
Jones started working for Halliburton/KBR as an administrative assistant in Houston in 2004. She claims that she was
sexually harassed and demanded to be transferred. On July 25, 2005, she began an assignment at Camp Hope, located
in the Green Zone area of Baghdad. Despite requesting to be housed in an all-female barracks, she was placed in
quarters occupied predominantly by men.
A potential recipe for disaster.
Jones claims that she was sexually harassed from the start, and that two days after arriving at Camp Hope she asked
to be moved to safer housing. She says that her bosses did nothing. The next night, Jones claims, following a party
outside her barracks at which her co-workers were drinking booze, she alleges that she was drugged, beaten and gang-
raped in her bedroom. When she woke up the next morning, Jones says, she was naked and one of the alleged rapists
was sleeping in the lower bunk in her bedroom. She claims she suffered several injuries, including a torn pectoral
muscle.
Jones further alleges that Halliburton/KBR mishandled the rape kit, put her in a room with an armed guard who
prohibited her from leaving and refused to let her telephone her family. She claims her KBR bosses told her she could
either "get over it" or go home without the promise of a job when she got there, according to court records. In May
2007, Jones sued.
The Fifth Circuit ruled that the alleged attack did not occur at Jones' workplace and that her four claims up for
discussion -- assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and supervision of
employees involved in the assault, and false imprisonment -- were not subject to arbitration under her contract with
Halliburton/KBR.
"We agree that [Jones'] bedroom should not be considered the workplace, even though her housing was provided by
her employer," Justice Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale wrote in the court's opinion. He cited, among the evidence, that
since alcohol consumption was allowed only in non-work spaces that Halliburton/KBR did not consider the barracks to
be part of the workplace.
One of the three judges disagreed. Justice Harold DeMoss wrote in his dissenting opinion that Jones' claims were
related to her job.
"If the attacks had occurred in the Green Zone at large, or at a location where Jones was not required to be, her
claims would arguably not be related to her employment," he wrote.
Interestingly, of the three judges, DeMoss is the only one based in Houston. Barksdale is based in Jackson,
Mississippi and the third judge to hear the case, Carl Stewart, is based in Shreveport, Louisiana.
in Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a 2-1 ruling, the judges decided that the allegations made by Jamie Leigh Jones of Houston were not subject to the
arbitration clause in her employment contract, meaning Jones' civil lawsuit against Halliburton, KBR and affiliates can
proceed in court to a possible trial. The primary question before the court was whether the alleged rape and Jones'
other claims were related to her employment and whether the alleged attack took place at an official workplace.
Jones started working for Halliburton/KBR as an administrative assistant in Houston in 2004. She claims that she was
sexually harassed and demanded to be transferred. On July 25, 2005, she began an assignment at Camp Hope, located
in the Green Zone area of Baghdad. Despite requesting to be housed in an all-female barracks, she was placed in
quarters occupied predominantly by men.
A potential recipe for disaster.
Jones claims that she was sexually harassed from the start, and that two days after arriving at Camp Hope she asked
to be moved to safer housing. She says that her bosses did nothing. The next night, Jones claims, following a party
outside her barracks at which her co-workers were drinking booze, she alleges that she was drugged, beaten and gang-
raped in her bedroom. When she woke up the next morning, Jones says, she was naked and one of the alleged rapists
was sleeping in the lower bunk in her bedroom. She claims she suffered several injuries, including a torn pectoral
muscle.
Jones further alleges that Halliburton/KBR mishandled the rape kit, put her in a room with an armed guard who
prohibited her from leaving and refused to let her telephone her family. She claims her KBR bosses told her she could
either "get over it" or go home without the promise of a job when she got there, according to court records. In May
2007, Jones sued.
The Fifth Circuit ruled that the alleged attack did not occur at Jones' workplace and that her four claims up for
discussion -- assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and supervision of
employees involved in the assault, and false imprisonment -- were not subject to arbitration under her contract with
Halliburton/KBR.
"We agree that [Jones'] bedroom should not be considered the workplace, even though her housing was provided by
her employer," Justice Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale wrote in the court's opinion. He cited, among the evidence, that
since alcohol consumption was allowed only in non-work spaces that Halliburton/KBR did not consider the barracks to
be part of the workplace.
One of the three judges disagreed. Justice Harold DeMoss wrote in his dissenting opinion that Jones' claims were
related to her job.
"If the attacks had occurred in the Green Zone at large, or at a location where Jones was not required to be, her
claims would arguably not be related to her employment," he wrote.
Interestingly, of the three judges, DeMoss is the only one based in Houston. Barksdale is based in Jackson,
Mississippi and the third judge to hear the case, Carl Stewart, is based in Shreveport, Louisiana.
| Forward By Chris Vogel in Courts, 2009 @ 12:21PM |
Senator Al Franken proposes the
"Jamie Leigh Jones Amendment"
on the Senate floor. It passes
68-30. Click to watch the
proceedings HERE.
Read the story HERE.
"Jamie Leigh Jones Amendment"
on the Senate floor. It passes
68-30. Click to watch the
proceedings HERE.
Read the story HERE.
Todd and Jamie appear on KHOU Channel 11, to discuss the 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals ruling denying Halliburton's attempt to force her into
binding arbitration. See it HERE.
Court of Appeals ruling denying Halliburton's attempt to force her into
binding arbitration. See it HERE.
Todd and Jamie appear on KTRK Channel 13, to discuss the Arbitration
.Fairness Act. Watch the interview HERE
.Fairness Act. Watch the interview HERE
As a result of the efforts of Jamie Leigh Jones and her attorneys at The
Kelly Law firm, the Pentagon will not track assaults on contractors. Story
HERE.
Kelly Law firm, the Pentagon will not track assaults on contractors. Story
HERE.
We have the honor of representing Jamie Leigh Jones
and several other courageous women who came forward
in the sexually lawless environment created by Kellogg,
Brown & Root; Halliburton, and other military
contractors in Iraq.
(Click Here for More)
and several other courageous women who came forward
in the sexually lawless environment created by Kellogg,
Brown & Root; Halliburton, and other military
contractors in Iraq.
(Click Here for More)
| Arbitration Act of 2007, Sponsored by Representative Hank Johnson (D) Georgia (also in photo) |
| The Kelly Law Firm Defeated Halliburton's Motion to Compel Arbitration on behalf of Jamie Leigh Jones - the first time that this has been done. |
| Click on the photo Jamie has to say |
