The Buzbee Law Firm has filed a civil lawsuit against Fluor Corporation after a suicide bombing, which killed five men and wounded 17 others on Veterans Day, November 11, 2016 in Afghanistan.
The lawsuit claims the deaths and injuries were a direct result of negligent supervision by the defendants of an employee with a known problematic record.
Defendants Fluor Corporation and Alliance Project Services hired Afghan national Ahmad Nayeb to work at the HAZMAT work center disposing of vehicle fluids within Fluor’s Non-Tactical Vehicle Yard at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in 2016.
The lawsuit states that the defendants were contractually obligated to ensure that, “employees such as Nayeb were physically escorted off the Base at the end of their work shifts. Nayeb was supposed to have been escorted off the Base by bus at 4:45 A.M. that morning. However, on the morning in question, Nayeb was not escorted off the Base at the end of his work shift.”
Instead, in the early morning hours of November 12, 2016, as military and base personnel gathered to take part in a Veterans Day 5k race, Nayeb detonated a suicide vest.
Ultimately, the lawsuit says, the defendants provided Nayeb with the access to materials and tools that he needed to construct the explosive vest bomb.
"Fluor provided him access to the base, Fluor failed to screen him, they failed to supervise him and even when serious questions were raised about his conduct, and what he was up to, Fluor failed to act," said Buzbee.
A post-incident Army Investigation Report states that in the months leading up to the bombing,
Nayeb was caught wandering away from his worksite, doing personal work, sleeping on the job and allowed to check out tools, such as a multimeter, from Fluor’s supply that were not related to his job responsibilities.
Fluor is a Fortune 500 company that employs nearly 57,000 worldwide. The private military contractor is headquartered in Irving, Texas and has been performing work for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan under a multibillion-dollar contract since 2009.
Fluor has experienced a turbulent several months—in April, the company was not chosen as a repeat contractor in Afghanistan, CEO David Seaton resigned on May 1, right before the company reported a $58-million first-quarter loss for 2019.
The plaintiffs say the lawsuit is about justice.
"They'll never see their fathers, sons, brothers, husbands ever again and we believe Fluor and Alliance robbed them of that chance and we're bound and determined to hold them accountable," said Buzbee.
When a company such as Fluor profits from a multibillion-dollar government contract that assures supervision of overseas employees—there will be repercussions when it fails to uphold the contract.
Fluor cut corners in the supervision of their employee at the expense of our wellbeing and loved ones’ lives. Our injuries and their deaths are a direct result of Fluor’s failure to execute the most basic of required protocols on base.
Deceased:
- PFC Tyler Iubelt, 20 (Plaintiffs: Charlotte Loquasto, Michael Iubelt, Shelby Iubelt)
- Staff Sgt. John Perry, 30 (Plaintiffs: Julianne Perry, Kathleen Perry, Stewart Perry)
- SFC Allan E. Brown, 46 (Plaintiff: Marissa Brown)
- Peter Provost, 62 (Plaintiffs: Gail Provost, Meghan Hollingsworth, Sarah Peterson, Brian
- Provost, Spencer Provost, Louis Provost, Gertrude Provost)
- Jarrold Reeves, 57 (Plaintiffs: Katrina Reeves, Summer Dunn, Hannah Mason, Mallory Reeves,
- Charlotte Reeves)