Defense Base Act Barred Iraq Contractors' Suits, 5th Circuit Rules

A federal appellate court ruled that the Defense Base Act's (DBA) exclusive remedy provision barred two families' civil suits stemming from the "Good Friday Massacre," when Iraqi insurgents killed seven civilian convoy drivers in April 2004. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the DBA barred a pair of lawsuits filed by the families of Steven Fisher and Timothy Bell against their employer, Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR). The title of the published opinion is Fisher v. Halliburton, No. 10-20202, 1/12/12.Fisher and Bell were driving fuel tankers to Baghdad International Airp...