Thanks to Senator Franken, KBR caves

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Wednesday March 24, 2010 · 4:54 AM PDT

2010/03/24 · 04:54

Remember Jamie Leigh Jones? She's the woman that was gang raped in Iraq by a bunch of her KBR colleagues and subsequently locked in a container by her superiors after she reported the incident. When she got back to the States, she sued. KBR tried to enforce a binding arbitration clause in their employment contract, but lost in court when the judge ruled that being subjected to rape had nothing to do with her employment. KBR appealed to the Supreme Court. Until yesterday, that is... Yesterday, KBR dropped their appeal.

Why?

Three words: Senator Al Franken.

In one of Senator Franken's first pieces of legislation, he introduced an amendment that would have cut off federal contracts to any business that sought to enforce binding arbitration clauses against employees pressing Title VII civil rights claims. Put simply, he wanted Jamie Leigh Jones and others in her position to get their day in court. KBR's appeal asked the Supreme Court to rule that the Franken Amendment didn't apply to this case, but they got cold feet when the Amendment was enforced in two other actions by the Pentagon.

Jamie Leigh Jones is going to court thanks to Senator Franken.

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Thanks to Senator Franken, KBR caves

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