HOUSTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Opening statements began in Houston Tuesday in a federal civil trial for a Texas woman who says she was gang-raped while working for a U.S. contractor in Iraq.
Jamie Leigh Jones, formerly of of Conroe, is suing Halliburton and KBR, alleging she was raped by fellow contract workers in 2005, Houston's KRIV-TV reported.
"I've been fighting this for six years," Jones said outside the courtroom during a short recess. "I'm must happy to step inside of a courtroom and get some justice."
The trial began after an appellate court ruled Jones' claims against Halliburton can be heard in open court. Halliburton had argued Jones signed an agreement to resolve all claims privately.
Jones was working for KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary at the time, when she said several coworkers drugged and raped her while she was living at a coed barrack called Camp Hope in Baghdad, the Houston Chronicle said.
She says the Houston companies, now separate entities, allowed a "hostile working environment" by not enforcing their sexual harassment policies.
