Appeal heard in rape case against Halliburton, KBR
A judge ruled last year that some of Jamie Leigh Jones' claims against Halliburton Co. and several former subsidiaries can be tried in open court, but the companies say she signed an agreement that requires all of her claims against the companies to be resolved privately through arbitration...The Associated Press usually does not identify people alleging sexual assault, but Jones' face and name have been broadcast in media reports and on her own Web site. She also described her allegations in testimony before a congressional subcommittee.

NEW ORLEANS — A Texas woman who claims she was raped by co-workers while working for a military contractor in Iraq asked a federal appeals court Monday to let a jury hear part of her case.

A judge ruled last year that some of Jamie Leigh Jones' claims against Halliburton Co. and several former subsidiaries can be tried in open court, but the companies say she signed an agreement that requires all of her claims against the companies to be resolved privately through arbitration.

A three-judge panel that heard the companies' appeal Monday didn't immediately rule.

Jones, a Kellogg Brown & Root employee who was a clerical worker at a Halliburton office in Baghdad's "Green Zone," claims she was drugged and "gang-raped" by several Halliburton firefighters in her company barracks bedroom after they had been drinking.

Jones also claims she was placed under armed guard and held in a "prison-like container" for hours after she reported the alleged rape. KBR and Halliburton, which split in 2007, have disputed Jones' account of how the companies responded to her allegations.

The Associated Press usually does not identify people alleging sexual assault, but Jones' face and name have been broadcast in media reports and on her own Web site. She also described her allegations in testimony before a congressional subcommittee.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ordered Jones to arbitrate some of her claims, including fraud, negligence and sexual harassment. But he ruled that her claims of assault and battery, emotional distress and false imprisonment fall outside the scope of her employment agreement. Ellison ruled that Jones can't pursue the latter claims before the others are arbitrated.

Carl Jordan, a lawyer for the companies, argued that all of Jones' claims are subject to binding arbitration under Halliburton's "dispute resolution program."

"The arbitration clause in this case is quite broad," he said.

John Vail, one of Jones' lawyers, said the employment agreement his client signed doesn't govern any claims stemming from her alleged rape.

"And a rape in her bedroom did not occur in the workplace," he added.

Alcohol was banned in "non-workplace" areas of Camp Hope in Iraq after Jones' alleged rape, according to Vail.

"That is very powerful evidence that this was not in the workplace," he said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6394916.html#