Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security

Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security is the lawsuit for wrongful death filed by the families of the four contractors for Blackwater Security who were slain in the 31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/17/news/iraq.php?page=1 Iraqis revoke license of Blackwater security company - International Herald Tribune ] ] . The families of the four slain contractors, led by Scott Helvenston's mother Katy Helvenston-Wettengel and Donna Zovko, Jerry Zovko's mother, filed suit against Blackwater with lawyer Daniel Callahan on January 5, 2005. Blackwater countersued for $10 million in December 2006, claiming breach of the contract provisions which forbid any suit against the company. Both suits are outstanding.cite news
url=http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/IraqCoverage/story?id=650816&page=1
publisher=Primetime, ABC News
title=Mothers Say Mistakes Led to Fallujah Tragedy
date=April 7, 2005] cite news
url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20060508&s=scahill
title=Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater
author=Jeremy Scahill
publisher=The Nation
date=May 8, 2006]

Lead counsel for the families is Daniel Callahan; lead counsel for Blackwater is Greenberg Traurig.

Lawsuit allegations

The Blackwater contract with Regency Hotel and Hospital Company and Eurest Support Services called for at least three men per vehicle on security missions "with a minimum of two armored vehicles to support ESS movements." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2100844,00.html Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | A true land of opportunity ] ] In addition the contract called for a minimum of three-man teams in two vehicles (for a total of six men), with a heavily armed rear gunner, and time before any mission to review the route and conduct a risk assessment and pre-trip inspection.http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070207112354-05553.pdf] Blackwater signed a revised contract with Regency on March 12, 2004 that removed the word "armored".

The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties. [ [http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sovereign/military/0508blackwater.htm Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater - Nations and States - Global Policy Forum ] ]

The suit alleges that Blackwater repeatedly made decisions that made the deaths of the contractors more likely in order to save money. These alleged decisions include not buying armored vehicles to save $1.5 million and removing the employee, John Potter, who complained about that action; and violating the contract by not sending out a six-man team with two armored vehicles [ [http://www.newsobserver.com/nation_world/blackwater/story/278059.html newsobserver.com | Security company broke own rules ] ]

In December 2006, the families' attorney was sued for $10 million by Blackwater, who argues that the families had breached the security guards' contracts by suing the company for wrongful death. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/19/AR2007011901673.html Iraq Security Contractor Countersues] Washington Post, January 19 2007]

References