"Defense contractors do not have
independent constitutional authority and are not coordinated branches of
government to which we owe deference,"
PITTSBURGH — A lawsuit against a
Houston-based defense contractor accused of negligence in the death of a
Pittsburgh-area native was resurrected Thursday by three appeals court judges.
The decision could change the way courts view such cases regionally, or even
nationally.
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth was stationed
in Iraq at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex in a barracks with known electrical
problems that was maintained by Texas-based Kellogg Brown & Root Services.
An underground water pump electrocuted him in 2008. He was
24.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Nora
Barry Fischer dismissed the case filed by his parents. In her 87-page decision,
she found, among other things, that the court could not decide whether KBR was
negligent because it is not allowed to pass judgment on military and political
decisions under the separation of powers doctrine.
Three judges of the 3rd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals disagreed in a 55-page precedential opinion that is now the law
of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
"Defense contractors do not have
independent constitutional authority and are not coordinated branches of
government to which we owe deference," the judges wrote. They added that the
accusations made by Maseth's parents don't require an evaluation of the
military's decisions.
"I
am so relieved and thankful that the 3rd Circuit made the decision that they
did, and I am very hopeful and looking forward to the case heading to trial,"
said Maseth's mother, Cheryl Harris of Cranberry.
"It's not about money," she added.
"It's about contractors really doing the work that they're paid to do, and
that's taking care of our soldiers. ... If anything, I'm just hoping for justice
for Ryan and all of the soldiers serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan."
KBR is "disappointed in the court's
decision and are reviewing it to determine the appropriate next steps," the
company indicated in a written statement. "KBR continues to believe that
District Judge Fischer's meticulous analysis of the facts and law, and her
dismissal of the suit, was correct. During the war in Iraq, KBR was fully
integrated into the military's combatant activities and acted under the
direction of the military."
KBR can now seek a review by the
entire 3rd Circuit, appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, or let the matter return
to Judge Fischer's courtroom, Downtown.
"There is a long way to go, and
that's OK," Ms. Harris said. "We've waited five years and the outcome [Thursday]
was positive."
The Circuit Court judges told Judge
Fischer to decide a contested legal point in the case — whether the laws of
Pennsylvania, Tennessee or Texas apply — before weighing whether KBR's defenses
would prevail. Maseth's parents live in the Pittsburgh area, he lived in
Tennessee and KBR is based in Texas.
"If Pennsylvania law applies, then
this case ... may proceed," the judges wrote. The case might be dismissed or go
forward with a greatly reduced damages claim, however, if Tennessee or Texas
laws apply, the judges continued.
KBR had at one point argued that the
case should be heard under Iraqi law, but Judge Fischer dismissed that
motion.
The gist of the appeals court's
decision, according to William S. Stickman IV, one of the attorneys for Maseth's
parents: "KBR's a company, not a branch of the federal
government."
That means the firm can't
successfully argue that questioning its performance of "routine tasks under its
contracts with the military" is equivalent to challenging decisions made in the
political realm or in the heat of combat, he said.
Mr. Stickman said the 3rd Circuit's
decision will be "strongly persuasive" in cases in other areas of the country
regarding defense contractors. That means it could help many families who have
lost loved ones as a result of military contractor errors.
"He was a soldier who put his life on
the line to defend our country," Mr. Stickman said, "and never expected to die
in the shower."
No comments:
Post a Comment