Lawless KBR Wanted Shower Deaths to Apply Iraqi Law

Oct 04, 2011 - Iraqi law should not govern a lawsuit brought by the mother of a Pittsburgh-area soldier electrocuted in a barracks shower at an Army base in Iraq, a federal judge has ruled.

Lawyers for Houston-based military contractor KBR Inc. had asked U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to apply Iraqi law to the ongoing lawsuit in the January 2008 death of Pittsburgh-area Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth. But Fischer agreed with lawyers for the soldier's parents who argued that United States law should hold sway because the base was under American control - and could provide for punitive damages and other advantages to the plaintiffs not recognized by Iraqi law.

Fischer's decision was the second time she ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The 24-page opinion handed down Sept. 23 was in response to KBR lawyers who asked her to reconsider a June decision that U.S. law should apply. read more>>>