Jamie Leigh Jones

Jones began working for KBR as an administrative assistant when she was 19 and started working in Iraq on July 24, 2005.{{cite web|first=Jane|last=Akre|url=http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/halliburton-employee-finally-gets-attention-for-rape-case.aspx|title=Halliburton Employee Finally Gets Attention for Rape Case|publisher=InjuryBoard|date=December 13, 2007|access-date=July 16, 2011}}

According to Jones, on July 28, 2005, one of her fellow KBR employees offered her a drink containing a date rape drug, although a subsequent blood test did not detect any date rape drugs. Jones says that while she was unconscious, several men anally and vaginally gang raped her.{{cite web|url=http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/kbr-could-win-jamie-leigh-jones-rape-trial|title=Why Jamie Leigh Jones Lost Her KBR Rape Case|work=Mother Jones|first=Stephanie|last=Mencimer|date=July 7, 2011|access-date=July 16, 2011}} She reported that when she awoke the next morning, she "found her body naked and severely bruised, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, blood running down her leg, her breast implants were ruptured, and her pectoral muscles torn" – which would later require reconstructive surgery. Upon walking to the rest room, she passed out again. The doctor who examined Jones gave the rape kit used to gather evidence from Jones to KBR/Halliburton security forces, and three hours later they turned the kit over to the U.S. government.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/15/defence-contractors-rape-claim-block|title=Rape case to force US defence firms into the open|work=The Guardian|date=October 15, 2009|access-date=July 16, 2011|first=Chris|last=McGreal}} According to Jones, in early 2007 a spokesperson at the State Department told her that photographs and doctor's notes were missing from the kit.{{cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5392225.html|title=KBR hearing centers on handling of rape kit|first=David|last=Ivanovich|work=Houston Chronicle|date=December 20, 2007|access-date=July 12, 2011}}

Jones alleged that KBR officials locked her in a trailer after she informed them of the rape and would not permit her to call her family. In her account, after a day of being locked in the trailer, a sympathetic guard gave her a cell phone and she called her father. It is then known that her father contacted U.S. Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) who contacted the State Department. Agents were dispatched from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and removed Jones from KBR custody. A 2006 investigation from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that “The investigation credits Charging Party's testimony, that she was indeed sexually assaulted by one or more Respondent employees and physical trauma was apparent.{{cite web |last= |first= |title=EEOC Finding Letter |website=Google Drive |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yE4QMubApTTRRuvfwxBVnusd4SRthSoJ/view?usp=sharing |access-date=2024-07-27}}{{cite journal |last=Adams |first=Jeffrey |title=The Assault of Jamie Leigh Jones: How One Woman's Horror Story Is Changing Arbitration in America |journal=Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal |volume=11 |pages=253– |year=2011 |url=https://law.pepperdine.edu/dispute-resolution-law-journal/issues/volume-eleven/09-adams.pdf |access-date=2024-07-27}}

On December 19, 2007, Jones testified before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Robert Scott (D-VA) stated that the DOJ "seems to be taking action with respect to enforcement of criminal laws in Iraq only when it is forced to do something by embarrassing media coverage."{{cite news|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gpp6vLCbE6ky0XrzgRMxDLJXoq-A|agency=Agence France Presse|title=Woman testifies she was raped by US contractors in Iraq|date=December 19, 2007|access-date=July 10, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110hhrg39709/html/CHRG-110hhrg39709.htm|title=Hearing on: 'Enforcement of Federal Criminal Law to Protect Americans Working for U.S. Contractors in Iraq'|publisher=US House of Representatives}} In a 2007 interview, Ted Poe, a former Texas judge, stated that the United States has jurisdiction over U.S. contractors when they are accused of committing a crime against a U.S. national in a federal enclave.

Jones testified again before the Judiciary Committee on October 7, 2009, concerning Senator Al Franken's amendment to the FY 2010 Defense Appropriation Bill, to restrict contracts with companies that use mandatory arbitration in their employment contracts.{{cite web|first=Sam|last=Stein|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/07/franken-gets-first-amendm_n_312399.html|title=Franken Gets His First Amendment Passed By Roll Call Vote|website=The Huffington Post|date=November 10, 2008|access-date=October 19, 2009}} This measure was passed by the Senate, prompted by her case.{{cite news|first=Sam|last=Stein|date=December 16, 2009|title=Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment Survives|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/frankens-anti-rape-amendm_n_394171.html|work=The Huffington Post}}

On May 16, 2007, Jones filed a civil lawsuit against the United States of America, KBR and former parent corporation Halliburton, and one of its former employees (one of the firefighters who had allegedly raped her). KBR asked the court to compel arbitration based on her employment contract. On September 15, 2009, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2–1 decision, ruled that Jones' lawsuit could proceed in court.{{cite news|url=http://motherjones.com/mojo/2009/09/halliburton-loses-jamie-leigh-jones|title=Court Okays Halliburton Rape Trial|last=Mencimer|first=Stephanie|date=September 16, 2009|work=Mother Jones|access-date=July 10, 2011}}

The trial began in the Southern District of Texas on June 14, 2011.{{cite news|last=Christian|first=Carol|title=Ex-KBR worker presses claim of rape in Iraq|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7610959.html|access-date=June 16, 2011|work=Houston Chronicle|date=June 14, 2011}} Jones' attorney argued that KBR had known about widespread sexual harassment but had ignored it because the remedy was too expensive. The defense argued that Jones fabricated her story of being drugged and raped because she was embarrassed about the consensual sex and wanted to get out of her year-long contract with KBR three days after she arrived.{{cite news|first=Daniel|last=Gilbert|date=July 7, 2011|title=Jurors in Jamie Leigh Jones Rape Trial Asked to Think Big|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/07/07/jurors-in-jamie-leigh-jones-rape-trial-asked-to-think-big/|work=The Wall Street Journal}} Jones' first attending physician testified that Jones had not suffered damage to her breast implants or chest during the alleged attack.

On July 8, the jury returned a verdict that rejected all of Jones' claims, finding that the sex between Jones and the employee was consensual and therefore no rape had occurred,{{cite news|title=Why Jamie Leigh Jones Lost Her KBR Rape Case|url=http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/kbr-could-win-jamie-leigh-jones-rape-trial|magazine=Mother Jones|date=July 8, 2011|last=Mencimer|first=Stephanie|access-date=July 15, 2011}} and that KBR did not defraud her. Jones said, "I just thought that the physical evidence would help. I guess the fact that my entire life was on display and (his) wasn't made a difference."{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/08/137716416/jury-rejects-former-kbr-inc-employees-rape-claims|title=Jury Rejects Former KBR Inc. Employee's Rape Claims|date=July 8, 2011|access-date=July 25, 2011|agency=Associated Press}} Bolen, a KBR spokeswoman, said, "The outcome of this jury trial as judged by her peers is the same result that the State Department got in 2005; that the Justice Department found in 2008. We are deeply gratified that the justice system has worked."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/09/us/09brfs-Kbr.html|title=Texas: Jury Rejects Assertion of Rape Against Military Contractor in Iraq|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 8, 2011|access-date=July 5, 2022|agency=Associated Press}}

KBR later filed a motion to recover more than $2 million in attorney fees and court costs. In the motion KBR states that Jones' hostile work environment and rape claims were fabricated and frivolous.{{cite news|last=Koppel|first=Nathan|title=KBR Requests That Losing Rape Claimant Pay Company's Legal Fees|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/08/23/kbr-requests-that-losing-rape-claimant-pay-companys-legal-fees/|access-date=August 24, 2011|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=August 23, 2011}} In a subsequent ruling, the court held Jones liable for KBR's court costs of $145,000, but also determined that the case was not frivolous and therefore she was not liable for KBR's attorney fees.{{cite news|last=Kim|first=Susanna|title=Jamie Leigh Jones Ordered to Pay $145,000 in Court Costs After Failed Rape Claim|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/jamie-leigh-jones-ordered-pay-145000-contractor-kbr/story?id=14635936#.UITYSMXR7No|access-date=October 21, 2012|work=ABC News|date=September 30, 2011}}

Jones met aviation mechanic Joseph Kallan Daigl, a member of the United States Navy, in 2005, They married in September 2006.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite journal|first1=Amy|last1=Prisco|date=November 20, 2009|title=Case Summary: Jones v. Halliburton Co.|url=http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~rcrlj/ADR%20Summaries/Jones%20v%20Halliburton.pdf|journal=Rutgers Conflict Resolution Law Journal|access-date=July 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927151816/http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~rcrlj/ADR%20Summaries/Jones%20v%20Halliburton.pdf|archive-date=September 27, 2011|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book|first1=Brent E.|last1=Turvey|first2=Wayne|last2=Petherick|year=2008|chapter=Case Example: Investigative Use of Forensic Victimology|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAVjnpqx2zUC&pg=PA24|title=Forensic Victimology: Examining Violent Crime Victims in Investigative and Legal Contexts|publisher=Academic Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-12-374089-2|pages=24–32}}
• {{cite journal|first1=Alexis|last1=Tsotakos|year=2009|title=Protecting the Rabbits from the Panel of Foxes: The Case Against Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in Non-Union Employment Contracts|journal=Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers|publisher=Washington College of Law|issue=Paper 31|url=http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/stu_upperlevel_papers/31}}
• "[http://poe.house.gov/2007/12/hostage-of-baghdad Hostage of Baghdad]{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}" by Congressman Ted Poe

• [https://www.ttla.com/index.cfm?pg=2010MadAwardJamieLeighJones Jamie Leigh Jones was the recipient of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association 2010 Making a Difference Award]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jamie Leigh}}

Category:1985 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Dallas

Category:Sexual abuse victim advocates