Adding Insult To Injury ...
Not only was Jamie Leigh Jones denied justice by the justice department:
"The Department of Justice has not informed Jamie or me of the status of a criminal investigation against her rapist if any investigation exists," Poe said today. "It is interesting to note that the Department of Justice has thousands of lawyers but not one from the barrage of lawyers is here to tell us what if anything they are doing. Their absence and silence speaks volumes about the hidden crimes in Iraq. Their attitude seems to be one of blissful indifference to American workers in Iraq," said Poe. "
But now, after all that she has gone through, Halliburton is trying to add insult to injury by denying her the chance for justice in civil court.
Please go to this YouTube page to see a Video Log complete with all kinds of footage of this story including News Coverage, Congressional Testimony, and more.
How? A Mandatory Binding Arbitration clause.
Congress needs to make sure not only that rapists are held accountable ... but so are the corrupt corporations that protect them.
We need to make sure that Congress outlaws Mandatory Binding Arbitration.
Take a moment and tell Congress today:
Just go to www.peopleoverprofits.org/jamiesstory
This will help get you started:
Here is a sample letter that you can send on your own (go here to get the contact info for your Representatives)
Dear Representative/Senator
I ask you to consider the story of Jamie Leigh Jones who was hurt by a Binding Mandatory Arbitration clause:
"Jamie Leigh Jones, now 22, says that after she was raped by multiple men at a KBR camp in the Green Zone (of Iraq), the company put her under guard in a shipping container with a bed and warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she'd be out of a job.
Since no criminal charges have been filed, the only other option, according to Hutson, is the civil system, which is the approach that Jones is trying now.
But Jones' former employer doesn't want this case to see the inside of a civil courtroom.
KBR has moved for Jones' claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom. It says her employment contract requires it.
In arbitration, there is no public record nor transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Jones' claims would not be heard before a judge and jury. Rather, a private arbitrator would decide Jones' case. In recent testimony before Congress, employment lawyer Cathy Ventrell-Monsees said that Halliburton won more than 80 percent of arbitration proceedings brought against it." -ABC News, 20/20
Jamie is just one of thousands of victims of Binding Mandatory Arbitration. These clauses, buried within many consumer contracts for credit cards, nursing homes and car purchases, stack the deck against ordinary Americans and force consumers to give up their rights before a dispute even occurs.
Although it is too late to fix this particular injustice, you have a chance to prevent thousands of more Americans from facing the same fate.
I urge you to cosponsor the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 because it will ban pre-dispute Binding Mandatory Arbitration clauses in consumer and employment contracts. Without Binding Mandatory Arbitration clauses for big businesses to hide behind, American consumers will be able to hold companies accountable.
These clauses have already hurt thousands of Americans already, and will continue to do so if Congress doesn’t pass the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007.
Again, I urge you to cosponsor the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 which bans the unfair practice and allows hard-working Americans to seek justice through the courts, often the only place they can face powerful interests on a level playing field.
Sincerely,
Join me in making sure that America never has to see another case like Jamie Leigh Jones, please take a moment and contact your Representatives today.