Article
D.C. attorneys win human trafficking case in Iraq
A dozen men from Nepal had been hired by a U.S. defense subcontractor and taken against their will to work at a military base in Iraq. On the way, they were captured by insurgents, taken hostage and executed... On behalf of nine of the slain men’s families, [Washington, DC-based attorneys at Cohen, Millstein, Hausfeld & Toll] filed suit in 2006 against the Jordanian subcontractor, Daoud & Partners, and its insurance company. This past April, they won. A judge in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law ruled that the men’s families were entitled to benefits... Daoud & Partners was hired by KBR Inc., but KBR wasn’t named in the suit because the insurance policy was written for Daoud & Partners, [attorney Matthew] Handley said. “That...doesn’t mean that KBR wasn’t involved.”... KBR, in an e-mail, said the company “in no way condones or tolerates unethical or illegal behavior,” adding that all employees go through a “trafficking in persons” course.