In a decision that could limit the scope of sovereign immunity for military contractors, an appeals court has revived claims that KBR Inc. and Halliburton Co. injured U.S. service members by disposing of waste in open air “burn pits” in war zones overseas. The ruling is a win for Susan Burke, a plaintiffs lawyer known for representing U.S. soldiers, and her co-counsel at the class action firm Motley Rice.
Burke’s clients are veterans who allege they’ve sustained health damage from KBR and Halliburton’s waste disposal practices at military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a 55-page ruling issued on Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that their claims aren’t barred by the doctrine of derivative sovereign immunity, which holds that agents of the U.S. government are immune from tort claims. The appeals court also rejected an argument by the defendants that the case should be dismissed because it requires the judiciary to second-guess military decisions in violation of the so-called “political question doctrine.”
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