On September 1, 2021, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Drain approved a bankruptcy settlement granting the Sackler family “global peace” from civil liability for the opioid epidemic, despite vigorous opposition from the Department of Justice and nine state attorneys general. The ruling …
Robert DrainSackler FamilyPurdue PharmaU.S. Department of JusticeState Attorneys Generalopioid-crisisbankruptcy-abusejudicial-failureaccountability-failurecorporate-impunity
The FTC announces a record $5 billion fine against Facebook for privacy violations related to Cambridge Analytica, but grants unprecedented immunity from personal liability to Mark Zuckerberg and other executives for past misconduct while imposing no structural changes to the company’s …
FacebookMark ZuckerbergFederal Trade CommissionRohit ChopraRebecca Kelly Slaughter+1 morefacebookftcregulatory-capturefineszuckerberg-immunity+4 more
Xe Services (formerly Blackwater) was acquired by a group of private investors and renamed Academi, with Erik Prince exiting the company he founded. The acquisition and rebranding represented the second major corporate transformation designed to distance the entity from Blackwater’s documented …
Erik PrinceXe ServicesAcademiJohn AshcroftJack Quinn+2 moreprivate-militarycorporate-impunityconflicts-of-interestreputation-launderingaccountability-crisis
The United States Senate passed the Franken Amendment by a 68-30 vote on October 6, 2009, prohibiting defense contractors receiving more than $1 million in Department of Defense funds from requiring employees to resolve sexual assault, battery, or harassment claims through mandatory arbitration. The …
Al FrankenJamie Leigh JonesKBRHalliburtonSenate+1 moreaccountability-crisiscorporate-impunitysexual-assaultmandatory-arbitrationprivate-military+1 more
Blackwater Worldwide officially changed its name to Xe Services LLC in a strategic rebranding effort to distance the company from its toxic reputation following the 2007 Nisour Square massacre, congressional investigations documenting 195 shooting incidents in Iraq, and widespread accusations of war …
Erik PrinceBlackwaterXe Servicesprivate-militarycorporate-impunityaccountability-crisisreputation-launderingwar-crimes
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret from Pittsburgh, was electrocuted in a shower at Radwaniyah Palace Complex near Baghdad on January 2, 2008, when an improperly grounded water pump installed by KBR short-circuited and sent electrical current through the shower water. Pentagon …
Ryan MasethKBRHalliburtonDepartment of DefenseDefense Contract Management Agency+2 moreprivate-militarycorporate-impunityaccountability-crisiswar-crimescorporate-negligence
Erik Prince testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for nearly four hours, defending Blackwater’s operations in Iraq despite overwhelming evidence of excessive force and lack of accountability. The hearing came weeks after the September 16, 2007 Nisour Square …
Erik PrinceBlackwaterHouse Oversight CommitteeHenry Waxmanprivate-militaryiraq-waraccountability-crisiscongressional-oversightcorporate-impunity
Halliburton announced the completion of its spin-off of KBR on April 5, 2007, separating the subsidiary that had generated most of its Iraq War controversies after 44 years of corporate integration. The separation followed KBR’s initial public offering on November 16, 2006, which raised $470 …
Halliburton announced on March 12, 2007, that it was relocating its corporate headquarters and CEO David Lesar from Houston, Texas, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, citing business opportunities in the Middle East where 38% of its $13 billion in oil field services revenue originated and 16,000 …
On July 28, 2005, KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones, then 22 years old and working her fourth day on the job in Baghdad, alleged she was drugged and gang-raped by KBR coworkers at Camp Hope in the Green Zone. Army doctors examined Jones and found evidence of sexual assault “both vaginally and …
Jamie Leigh JonesKBRHalliburtonTed PoeState Department+2 moreprivate-militarycorporate-impunityaccountability-crisissexual-assaultmandatory-arbitration+1 more
In February 2000, Halliburton’s offshore subsidiary Halliburton Products and Services opened an office in Tehran, Iran, while Dick Cheney remained CEO of the parent company, completing a systematic sanctions evasion structure that generated approximately $40 million annually in oil field …
Dick CheneyHalliburtonHalliburton Products and ServicesBill Clintonsanctions-evasionconflicts-of-interestregulatory-arbitragecorporate-impunityforeign-influence