The survivors of four Blackwater Worldwide contractors killed in a grisly ambush in Iraq five years ago have suffered another setback in their legal battle with the company.
A federal administrative law judge in North Carolina ruled the children of one of the slain contractors should receive compensation through a government insurance program known as the Defense Base Act. It prohibits those eligible for benefits from filing lawsuits against companies covered by the insurance.
The families of the four dead contractors have received payments through the program for several years. Seeking to keep their right to sue, the mother of contractor Scott Helvenston’s two children asked the judge to rule they never were entitled to the benefits they’ve been receiving. They argued the Defense Base Act does not apply to Blackwater’s work as a subcontractor, the insurance doesn’t apply to independent contractors, and the family should be able to sue because Blackwater committed willful misconduct in how the company handled Scott Helvenston and his fateful mission. Helvenston was one of four contractors killed in the attack in Fallujah in 2004.
William Dorsey, a U.S. Labor Department administrative law judge in San Francisco, disagreed on each point in a ruling. The decision appears to further complicate the chances of the four families winning a wrongful death lawsuit against North Carolina-based Blackwater.
Marc Miles, an attorney for the families, said in an interview that they plan to appeal Dorsey’s ruling. He said he didn’t think it would have any impact on the wrongful death case, which is set to go to arbitration in June.
Topics Lawsuits Contractors
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