Beach sailor sues contractor over injuries sustained in Iraq

NORFOLK

A Virginia Beach Navy corpsman  has filed a lawsuit against the defense contracting giant KBR, claiming he suffered burns and nerve damage from an electrical shock when company workers mistakenly turned on a generator in Iraq in 2007.

This is the latest in a string of lawsuits and federal investigations targeting alleged faulty electrical work by KBR in Iraq since the Texas-based company obtained a lucrative contract to provide electrical service there.

At least 16 service members and two American contractors have died from electrocution in Iraq since the war began in 2003, and thousands more have been injured from shocks, according to media and government reports.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Peter Taylor of Sir Barton Drive in Virginia Beach was serving as a hospital corpsman with a Marine unit  at Camp Fallujah in the summer of 2007 when he was injured. At the time, KBR had a contract to provide maintenance and management, including electrical service, to the camp.

His lawsuit seeks $2.5 million and was filed in U.S. District Court on Friday. It says "KBR's main electrical generator at Camp Fallujah was frequently malfunctioning or not functioning resulting in the armed service personnel at a critical forward operating base to be without electrical power."

On July 27 of that summer, Taylor and a group of Marines, fed up with the constant lack of electrical power, decided to hook up their own generator. To do this, they disconnected KBR's main generator in that area, the lawsuit says.

While Taylor and the others worked on an electrical box, a group of KBR electricians came by and "were specifically advised to not turn on the main generator until notified by the Marines," the lawsuit states.

The KBR workers acknowledged the request, but while the Marines were still working on the box, the KBR electricians inexplicably turned on the main generator, the lawsuit says.

Taylor had his hands on the wiring at that moment and "a powerful electrical current" went through him and he "had to be forcefully pulled from the wiring box to stop from being electrocuted," the suit says.

Taylor suffered third-degree burns on his hands and wrists plus nerve damage. He spent months at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and is now home. The suit claims that his hands still don't function properly.

Taylor was not available for an interview Monday. His lawyer, Stephen Swain of Virginia Beach, said he recognized KBR's history in Iraq before filing the suit.

"Basically it shows a pattern of what was going on in the way they handled their people. So many times, the war profiteer folks across the way in Iraq and Afghanistan do not utilize the highest measure of safety," he said.

"Any company over there making the kind of money they're making should use the utmost standard of care, which we don't believe was being used in this case," he said.

KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said she was not familiar with the Taylor lawsuit and could not comment on it. She did not respond to other e-mail questions.

Service members killed or injured in a war zone may have trouble suing military contractors. They are already prohibited from suing the government.

A federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that military personnel cannot sue private contractors in American courts for damages sustained on the battlefield. The family of an Army sergeant, who was critically injured when his truck, driven by a KBR worker, overturned in Iraq, had sued KBR and its former parent Halliburton.

But there are other suits still making their way through the system. None has yet to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Of the 18 people who died from electrocution in Iraq, the government has linked only one death directly to KBR. However, the company has sternly denied its workers caused any deaths or injuries.

The New York Times and The Associated Press reported earlier this year that an Army investigation into the electrocution of Green Beret Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth of Pennsylvania found "credible information" that his death was the result of criminal negligence by KBR workers. Maseth's family is also suing KBR.

William C. Bodie, KBR's interim president of government and infrastructure, issued a statement in May denouncing damaging media reports of federal investigations into the company.

"There is no link between faulty KBR wiring and electrocutions, nor is KBR aware of any Pentagon investigation that has made such a link," the statement said.

The Defense Department has acknowledged an investigation into KBR's electrical work in Iraq and issued a scathing report last fall, citing "serious noncompliance" with its contract.

"This failure is widespread and manifests itself primarily in electrical service deficiencies," according to a letter sent to KBR by the Pentagon's Defense Contract Management Agency. "As such, this failure has created immediate life, health and safety hazards for our deployed personnel," the letter said.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com