Posted on 10/08/2009 6:55:53 AM PDT by steve-b
Sen. Al Franken finally has a piece of legislation under his belt, signed by the U.S. Senate. His amendment passed through a roll call vote Tuesday night. We're all for getting things done in a Congress that appears to be stalling on anything and everything possible.
Franken's amendment stops defense contractors from receiving federal funding if they use mandatory arbitration clauses that prevent victims of assault from going to court. Nine Republicans voted with Democrats on the legislation for a final vote of 68-30. The amendment was part of the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill....
"The story came to my attention of Jamie Leigh Jones who, when she was 19, went to Iraq to work for [defense contractor] KBR and she was put in the barracks with 400 men and was sexually harassed," Franken told the Huffington Post in a brief interview shortly after the vote. "She complained. But they didn't do anything about it. She was drugged and gang raped and they locked her up in a shipping container. She tried to sue KBR and they said you have a mandatory arbitration clause in your contract. She tried to fight back and said this is ridiculous. She took it to court and they have been fighting her for three years."Franken says he hopes this is just the first step in his effort to add more oversight to contractors that receive federal funding.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.citypages.com ...
“We’re all for getting things done in a Congress that appears to be stalling on anything and everything possible.”
In a year where we’re already around one and a half trillion (!) dollars in deficit, maybe that’s a good thing. If it were, in fact, happening.
I don’t know as a woman, I am pretty upset about a woman who was gang raped and then locked in a crate. How is this not criminal? The people who did this should be prosecuted. I don’t like Franken but this is about rape.
Yes, this particular case is disturbing, but an arbitration clause doesnt necessarily prevent a claimant from receiving damages- they may not hit the lottery as they might with a jury verdict, but it doesnt shut them out from recovering damages, either.
So ultimately, this law is about expanding tort litigation.
I can’t defend the Republicans who voted against it.
Not according to Fraken:
From the article: "Franken says he hopes this is just the first step in his effort to add more oversight to contractors that receive federal funding."
No mention of rape.
What would happen if it is proven that massive voter fraud was planned and carried out by Acorn against Norm Coleman? It is not all that far fetched and, more than likely, did happen. Franken is scum.
But this is about a civil lawsuit against a company that did not rape or harass her but are being held responsible. Furthermore, by taking the job she accepted the terms of arbitration. What if they didn't hire her because they determined it was unsafe for women there? They would have been sued for discrimination.
So in 1000 years, when people are reading “The Rise and Fall of the American Empire” will Franken be regarded in the same manner as Caligula’s horse?
Not as much sense and fewer accomplishments than the horse, most likely.
Most likley the South end of a Northbound horse.
Having said that, the legislation is commendable. There's something suspect about a company that would make anyone, especially a 19-yr old female, sign that type of contract knowing full well the circumstances they might encounter in a war zone.
I’m sure he didn’t write this bill and it was written for him to introduce.
They need to investigate Franken and ACORN. At the moment, I believe he was elected on the back of ACORN fraud. The reason I say this is because there were reports of thousands of ACORN registered voters and Franken won by a small margin. Because of ACORN’s reputation, this needs immediate attention.
And if KBR ever wants to have a federal contract again they will accept that they don't get to do this sort of cover-up any more.
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