A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday refused to hold KBR Inc (KBR.N) liable for alleged human trafficking, in connection with the 2004 kidnapping and murder by insurgents of 12 Nepali men being transported in Iraq to work for a subcontractor at a U.S. military base...[T]he 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a lower court judge's 2014 dismissal of civil claims against KBR...by surviving family members and a Nepali worker...Judge Edward Prado said dismissal was proper because KBR's alleged misconduct lacked a sufficient connection with the United States...Prado rejected claims that KBR's alleged misconduct could be deemed "domestic" under the federal Alien Tort Statute...because Al Asad fell under U.S. control, KBR conducted financial transactions through U.S. banks, and U.S.-based workers may have known of alleged abuses...Judge James Graves dissented.  He found "much to support" the conclusion that claims over whether KBR engaged in human trafficking to fulfill its U.S. government contract to provide labor at Al Asad "touch and concern" the United States...