Congress could certainly have enacted a revival mechanism in the first-to-file rule statute notwithstanding repose and staleness concerns, but it has not done so, and we are not at liberty to create one. Carter resists this conclusion, based on unreasonable readings of certain statements from Carter III. Casetext, Inc. and Casetext are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Third, courts determine whether the "private service contractor [was] integrated into combatant activities over which the military retains command authority." KBR owns Service Employees International. You will be notified when it is ready. , 744 F.3d at 348 ("We find the Third Circuit's analysis persuasive and adopt its formulation of the interest at play here."). The company's corporate offices are in the KBR Tower in Downtown Houston. The company also has large offices in Arlington, Virginia, Birmingham, Alabama, and Newark, Delaware, in the United States and Leatherhead in the UK. 97-CV-1408, 1999 WL 33290613, at *1 (W.D. Your download is being prepared. Carter (Carter III), 135 S. Ct. 1970 (2015) (No. Welcome to KBR.com. The Defense Base Act extends workers compensation coverage under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act to "employees of American contractors engaged in construction related to military bases in foreign countries, and to foreign projects related to the national defense whether or not the project is located on a military base." Rule 12(b)(6) allows dismissal if a plaintiff fails "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." A defendant acts under a federal officer's directions when it acts under a contract with the federal government to perform "a job that, in the absence of a contract with a private firm, the Government itself would have had to perform." "Conversely, when the allegations in a complaint, however true, could not raise a claim of entitlement to relief, this basic deficiency should be exposed at the point of minimum expenditure of time and money by the parties and the court." Thorough consideration should be given to limiting discovery initially to such defenses."). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." 1442(a)(1), to remove an action, even if the plaintiff's complaint raises no federal question, so long as the officer asserts a "colorable federal defense," Latiolais , 951 F.3d at 291. Latiolais v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. , 951 F.3d 286, 29091 (5th Cir. We note briefly that two of our sister circuits have held that a first-to-file defect bears only on the merits of a relator's action, rather than on a district court's jurisdiction over it. In workmen's compensation statutes, the phrase "arising out of" "denote[s] any causal relationship." In a 29-page ruling, the federal district court in Oregon considered the motion by KBR and co-defendants Overseas Administration Services, Ltd. and Service Employees International, Inc. to dismiss the suit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and rejected it. 1-5 at 4), and owns Service Employees International. 8. 2045, 76 L.Ed.2d 194 (1983) ); see Davila-Perez v. Lockheed Martin Corp. , 202 F.3d 464, 468 (1st Cir. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION. Gadbois only addressed a situation where the relator sought to revise an FCA complaint with information pertaining to the related action that gave rise to the first-to-file defect. Other courts have rejected this test as excessively narrow because it limits the combatant-activities exception to "claims stemming directly from the use of force," excluding indirect wartime harms. 2000) ("The purpose of the Defense Base Act is to provide uniformity and certainty in availability of compensation for injured employees on military bases outside the United States."). R. CIV. at 60); United States ex rel. The plaintiffs allege that KBR negligently failed to "evacuate contractors" or "provide security measures," such as "communication of safety information and status updates, a means of evacuating Iraq when conditions became unreasonably dangerous, and protection from violent attacks." Va. 2015). The plaintiffs ask the court to remand to state court; the defendant asks the court to dismiss the claims. Webkbr, inc. and services employees international, inc., defendants.))))) Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief United States District Judge. KBR's Vice President of Government Solutions submitted a declaration stating that KBR typically performs "operations and maintenance, laundry, water and ice production and delivery, firefighting, fuel delivery, and waste management" in Iraq. 2d at 663 ; cf. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. This site requires JavaScript to be enabled in your browser. Inclusive Cmtys. While Federal Tort Claims Act exceptions do not expressly apply to private actors, 28 U.S.C. The basis for our decision to dismiss was our view that Carter had violated the first-to-file rule by bringing the Carter Action while related FCA actions were still pending; the basis for our decision to dismiss without prejudice was our view that Carter could refile his case following the dismissals of earlier-filed, related FCA actions. The False Claims Act (FCA) empowers private individuals acting on behalf of the government to bring civil actions against those that defraud the government. Latiolais , 951 F.3d at 292. Burn Pit Litig. 2010) ("Because the basis for many of these defenses is a respect for the interests of the Government in military matters, district courts should take care to develop and resolve such defenses at an early stage while avoiding, to the extent possible, any interference with military prerogatives. The Act "establishes a uniform, federal compensation scheme for civilian contractors and their employees for injuries sustained" while working abroad under a contract with the United States. Click here to learn how to enable. at 442444. The complaint alleges that Iran attacked the Al Asad base in "retaliation [for] the death of General Qassem Soleimani." Having discussed how this Court decides whether the first-to-file rule has been violated, we now turn to analyzing the sanction for a first-to-file violation. Flanagan's declaration, submitted by KBR, states that the Army was responsible for establishing the "defense procedures and force protection postures" that applied to military and civilian personnel at the Al Asad base. The FCA imposes liability for knowingly presenting false or fraudulent claims to the government of the United States for payment or approval. Saleh v. Titan Corp. , 580 F.3d 1, 7 (D.C. Cir. The email address cannot be subscribed. FED. at 50407, 108 S.Ct. 1813, 23 L.Ed.2d 396 (1969) ; Arizona v. Manypenny , 451 U.S. 232, 242, 101 S.Ct. The plaintiffs sued KBR in Texas state court for negligence and gross negligence, alleging that KBR was "aware of the heightened risk of a strike in the face of escalating regional violence," but "left [the] Plaintiffs and the other employees of Service Employees International at the base, in direct risk of substantial harm." Co., 853 F.3d 80, 8586 (2d Cir. at 5.2). (Docket Entry No. 2010) (quoting Rainwater v. United States, 356 U.S. 590, 592 (1958)). at 5.38, 5.39). Int'l , 986 F.2d 1103, 1104 (7th Cir. The majority opinion further concludes that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Relator leave to amend. at 1978. FED. Rule 59(e) motions can be successful in only three situations: (1) to accommodate an intervening change in controlling law; (2) to account for new evidence not available at trial; or (3) to correct a clear error of law or prevent manifest injustice. Zinkand v. Brown, 478 F.3d 634, 637 (4th Cir. 1-1 at 4.3). 2d at 709 (citing O'Leary v. Brown-Pacific-Maxon, Inc. , 340 U.S. 504, 507, 71 S.Ct. We disagree. The district court denied Relator leave to amend on grounds of futility, holding as a matter of law that a relator cannot cure a first-to-file defect by amending or supplementing his complaint after dismissal of all earlier-filed, related actions. The court reiterated its view that the date that an action is brought is dispositive in a first-to-file analysis, and concluded that the fact that the Maryland and Texas Actions were both still pending on the date the complaint in the Carter Action was filed rendered the Carter Action precluded by the first-to-file rule. Transcript : KBR, Inc., Q1 2023 Earnings Call, May 01, 2023. KB&RS is the operating company and contracting entity for KBRs Government and Koohi , 976 F.2d at 1337. 2d at 664. This favors rejecting the Ninth and D.C. United States ex rel. Because the Maryland Action was pending on the date the Carter Action was brought, the Carter Action ran afoul of the district court's understanding of the first-to-file rule.3. 1998) ("We have previously held that corporate entities qualify as persons under 1442(a)(1)."). Finally, the court explained that neither the Wartime Suspension and Limitations Act (WSLA) nor the principle of equitable tolling could toll the statute of limitations on the Carter Action's claims. 3d 358, 37374 (E.D. Watson v. Philip Morris Cos., Inc. , 551 U.S. 142, 154, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). 2d 639, 663 (S.D. Harm in these scenarios might be the product of U.S. military decisions. Id. Finally, Carter contests the district court's denial of his Rule 59(e)-based motion for reconsideration. To determine if an employee has multiple employers, the Fifth Circuit applies the "relative nature of the work test": Oilfield Safety , 625 F.2d at 1253 ; see also Fisher , 703 F. Supp. 1955 ). at 883. The plaintiffs motion to remand, (Docket Entry No. This view aligns with the exception's text, which states that the exception applies to "[a]ny claim arising out of combatant activities." If an employee's injury is covered by the Act, the employee generally cannot pursue a tort claim against his employer for the same injury. 1937 (alteration in original) (quoting Twombly , 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. On remand, Carter objected to the applicability of the first-to-file rule. {Kbr In Iraq}: Deliver water in tractor tank at a military base in Iraq What they like about Service Employee International,Inc. Id. Carter opposed certiorari, insisting that this Court correctly decided that the district court's jurisdictional dismissal of the case should have been without prejudice. Brief in Opposition at 17, Carter III, 135 S. Ct. 1970 (No. 3730(a), as well as through civil actionsknown as qui tam actionsthat are filed by private partiesknown as relatorsin the name of the Government, 31 U.S.C. The present record does not make clear what work the plaintiffs did or what services they provided at the Al Asad base. Additionally, the district court held that all but one of the Carter Action's claims fell outside the applicable six-year statute of limitations on civil actions. Burn Pit Litig. Simply put, Carter was ineligible for relief on a motion for reconsideration, and thus the district court did not err in denying him such relief. Carter did not, however, contest the district court's decision to assess the first-to-file rule based on the facts as they existed at the time that the Carter Action was brought. Accordingly, the appropriate reference point for a first-to-file analysis is the set of facts in existence at the time that the FCA action under review is commenced. In sum, the combatant-activities exception is designed to prevent courts in state tort cases from second-guessing military decisions, after the fact. case opinion for us 5th circuit galen barker v. halliburton company kbr kbr technical services inc service employees international inc kellogg brown root services inc kellogg brown root international inc kellogg brown root kellogg brown root inc kellogg brown root de kellogg brown root kbr inc kbr inc. read the court's full decision on findlaw.
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