Jury Awards Iraq Veterans $85 Million for KBR’s Failure to Prevent Chemical Exposure

PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal court jury has found KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) and Kellogg Brown and Root Services Inc. liable for $85 million in damages for failing to protect 12 Oregon National Guardsmen from exposure to hexavalent chromium and other toxins while they served in Iraq.

The 12 soldiers who brought their claims to trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon were each awarded $850,000 in non-economic damages and $6.25 million in punitive damages Nov. 2, after a trial that lasted nearly a month.

In September, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak denied the KBR parties’ …