A Natasha Chart Golden Oldie
From Wed Jan 28, 2009. Original HERE.
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a 24 year old Green Beret, died in Iraq last January in a military base bathroom, of electrocution. He's one of 13 soldiers to die because of faulty electrical work. Press reports at the time mentioned what was known of contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root's (KBR) role:
... Army documents obtained by CNN show that U.S.-paid contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) inspected the building and found serious electrical problems a full 11 months before Maseth was electrocuted.
KBR noted "several safety issues concerning the improper grounding of electrical devices." But KBR's contract did not cover "fixing potential hazards." It covered repairing items only after they broke down. ...
Based on the testimony given at a Senate hearing on the matter, Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Bob Casey (D-PA) asked the Army to investigate. The results are in and the Army has changed Maseth's cause of death from "accidental" to "negligent homicide". And while this raises the possibility of criminal action against KBR, there's plenty of blame to go around.
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a 24 year old Green Beret, died in Iraq last January in a military base bathroom, of electrocution. He's one of 13 soldiers to die because of faulty electrical work. Press reports at the time mentioned what was known of contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root's (KBR) role:
... Army documents obtained by CNN show that U.S.-paid contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) inspected the building and found serious electrical problems a full 11 months before Maseth was electrocuted.
KBR noted "several safety issues concerning the improper grounding of electrical devices." But KBR's contract did not cover "fixing potential hazards." It covered repairing items only after they broke down. ...
Based on the testimony given at a Senate hearing on the matter, Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Bob Casey (D-PA) asked the Army to investigate. The results are in and the Army has changed Maseth's cause of death from "accidental" to "negligent homicide". And while this raises the possibility of criminal action against KBR, there's plenty of blame to go around.
Imagine that you're unemployed and need to get a job. It takes a lot of time these days. You call in all your favors, badger the FBI (friends, brothers and in-laws), send out your resume, go on some interviews. Some days, you replay a dead-end interview conversation over and over again in your mind, 'What did I say? What didn't I say? How could I have said that when I'd already rehearsed that question?' You worry, pace, lay awake and occasionally sit staring mournfully at your breakfast, wondering how much longer your favorite cereal is going to be on the menu.
Then the day you've been waiting for: you're hired.
One catch.
The HR rep puts a piece of paper on the desk in front of you and says you have to sign it to get the job. So you look it over. It's barely comprehensible, something about dispute resolution, but you see a word that makes you start reading a bit more closely.
In the event, wait ... what!? You'd probably wonder what country you were in, wonder if you were really reading English, as you had innocently suspected when you sat down. Surely, I mean, come on, that can't be right. Is it even legal to sign away your right to go to court if someone commits a crime against you?
Yes. Let's take it as read that it is.
So really, think about it. You need this job, your family needs you to take it, and you don't know when another one will be on offer. Would you sign that piece of paper?
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