Unfortunately, her contract with Halliburton said sexual assault charges could not be brought in court, and instead restricted her to private arbitration. For friggin' sexual assault.
Four years later, Congress finally sees fit to fix this -- and of course, it's Al Franken to the rescue. He brought an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill to fix this. The full text of the amendment is as follows:
Sec. 8104. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any existing or new Federal contract if the contractor or a subcontractor at any tier requires that an employee or independent contractor, as a condition of employment, sign a contract that mandates that the employee or independent contractor performing work under the contract or subcontract resolve through arbitration any claim under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any tort related to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, or negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.
That seems pretty straightforward to me, and would give people like Jamie Leigh Jones actual legal recourse.
The amendment passed 68-30, including every Democrat and 10 Republicans (2 Democrats were absent). Sadly, John Thune couldn't bring himself to vote to help rape victims over the interests of Halliburton/KBR, and voted against the amendment.
Unfortunately, our junior senator apparently doesn't see the need to let rape victims file criminal charges against their attackers. Thune apparently decided he was elected to protect Halliburton, and not people. He apparently decided that people like Jamie Leigh Jones (and others) should be okay with being brushed under the rug.
I think the media should start referring to him as Sen. John Thune (R-Halliburton), because he CERTAINLY does not represent South Dakotans.
(Hat tip to Talking Points Memo)
7 comments:
Great post Angie. There seem to be so many who are upset with Thune, and rightly so. My advice: if you don't like the decisions being made...change the decision makers! We need to find a good candidate to run against Thune in 2010...any takers?
Great post indeed! This should be at the top of the pile of questions a Thune challenger asks Thune and the voters in 2010.
But yeah, we're still looking for that challenger, aren't we? Are any of you ladies available?
I'm not sure any of us are quite ready for a U.S. Senate race (although if it came down to it, I'd nominate Anna because she's least likely to lose her cool in a debate). But the moment you can make a contribution to DW lady's campaign, believe me -- you'll know! :)
I'm totally a believer in changing the decision makers. As soon as any DW lady becomes legally eligible to run for Senate (read: turn 30), we'll get crackin!
Since when can a person sign away societies right to criminal prosecution? I know it would be hard to prosecute without the victims cooperation but that doesn't make rape non-criminal. Can't the state bring charges anyway?
Great question, Roger. It's my understanding that prosecutors almost never proceed without the victim, in part because they're extremely unlikely to get a conviction. Rape is difficult to prosecute even in the best of circumstances. Without a complaining witness (and physical evidence obtained from one), there's likely no evidence to show that a rape occurred.
So, while a victim couldn't sign away the state's right to prosecute, she or he could sign away their own right to report or press charges, making it significantly easier for a company like Halliburton/KBR to cover up the incident.
The politicians who voted to protect Halliburton should lose their jobs.
More importantly, everyone who is outraged by Halliburton should insist that their 401K or IRA or fund manager sell Halliburton stock.
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