KBR, Inc.

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Not to be confused with Template:Infobox company KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> KBR works in various markets including aerospace, defense, industrial, intelligence, and energy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The company supports various NASA programs, international partner space agencies, and commercial partners.

KBR was created in 1998 when M.W. Kellogg merged with Halliburton's construction subsidiary, Brown & Root, to form Kellogg Brown & Root. In 2006, the company separated from Halliburton and completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The company's corporate offices are in the KBR Tower in downtown Houston.<ref name="Ditch">Eriksen, Helen. "Will KBR ditch its Houston headquarters for Katy suburbia?" Template:Webarchive Houston Chronicle. April 30, 2008. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

M. W. Kellogg

M.W. Kellogg Company was founded by Morris Woodruff Kellogg in New York City in 1901.<ref name=":15">Template:Cite web</ref> At first, it specialized in oil refining and pipe design.<ref name=":15" /> In 1905 the company moved its headquarters to Jersey City, where it remained until 1971.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Kellogg's entry into process engineering initially focused on the Fleming cracking process, but in the 1920s Kellogg partnered with The Texas Company (Texaco) and Standard Oil of Indiana to purchase the Cross thermal cracking process. Kellogg set up one of the first petroleum laboratories in the country in 1926 to commercialize and then license the technology. This led to Kellogg building some 130 units in the United States and abroad.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the 1940s, M.W. Kellogg built the first commercial FCC (fluid catalytic cracking) unit.<ref name=":16" /> It was commissioned in May 1942. Over the next two years, the company built 22 of the 34 FCC units constructed throughout the U.S.<ref name=":16">Template:Cite news</ref>

Even bigger than the refining work was K-25, the gaseous diffusion plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, developed by Kellogg subsidiary the Kellex Corporation, built as part of the Manhattan Project. This period also included the development of the Benedict–Webb–Rubin (BWR) equation of state which has since become an industry mainstay and provided the basis for Kellogg's lead in cryogenics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 1950s Kellogg technology expanded into steam pyrolysis, Orthoflow fluid catalytic cracking, phenol-from-cumene and coal-to-synthetic fuels technologies and the 1960s saw the growth in helium recovery, ethylene, and the development of Kellogg's ammonia process. Kellogg maintained New York offices at 225 Broadway in the Transportation Building until 1956 when it moved to 711 Third Avenue in Midtown.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1973, M.W. Kellogg received five contracts from China for the construction of large-scale ammonia plants.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite news</ref> Kellogg's international work expanded to include major ammonia complexes in China,<ref name=":9" /> Indonesia,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Mexico as well as an LNG liquefaction plant in Algeria<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and two receiving terminals in the United States, the world's largest LPG plant in Kuwait<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and several fluid catalytic cracking units in Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kellogg underwent numerous acquisitions and name changes until 1987, when it was acquired by Dresser Industries, a provider of integrated services and project management for the oil and gas industry.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ten years later, Halliburton acquired Dresser, and combined Kellogg with the company Brown & Root to create a new, larger subsidiary – Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brown & Root

Brown & Root was founded in Texas in 1919 by Herman Brown and Daniel Root, with money provided by Root (Brown's brother in law).<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Root soon died and Herman Brown's younger brother, George R. Brown, joined the company in 1922 (according to Robert A. Caro's The Path to Power). The company began its operations by building roads in Texas.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

One of its first large-scale projects, according to the book Cadillac Desert, was building a dam on the Texas Colorado River near Austin during the Depression years. For assistance in federal payments, the company turned to the local Congressman, Lyndon Johnson. Brown & Root was the principal source of campaign funds after Johnson's initial run for Congress in 1937, in return for persuading the Bureau of Reclamation to change its rules against paying for a dam on land the federal government did not own, a decision that had to go all the way to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After other very profitable construction projects for the federal government, Brown & Root gave massive sums of cash for Johnson's first run for the U.S. Senate in 1941.<ref name="noonan">Template:Cite book</ref>

During World War II, Brown & Root built the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and its subsidiary Brown Shipbuilding produced a series of warships for the U.S. government. In 1947 Brown & Root built one of the world's first offshore oil platforms.<ref name=":0" />

According to Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains, Brown & Root was a contractor in the Péligre Dam project. The project was designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and financed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Halliburton years

Following the death of Herman Brown, Halliburton Energy Services acquired Brown & Root in December 1962.<ref name=":0" /> According to Dan Briody, who wrote a book on the subject, the company became part of a consortium called RMK-BRJ that built about 85 percent of the infrastructure needed by the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. In 1967, the Government Accounting Office alleged that Brown & Root had been unaccountable with public funds and allowed materials to be stolen.<ref name="Miller 2007 p. 72">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Carafano 2008 p. 27">Template:Cite book</ref> Donald Rumsfeld expressed concern that their contracts were not adequately audited.<ref name="Miller 2007 p. 72" /><ref name="Carafano 2008 p. 27" /> At this time, protesters derided Brown & Root as a symbol of war profiteering,<ref name="Appy 2016 p. 111" /> dubbing the company "Burn & Loot".<ref name="Appy 2016 p. 111">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Axelrod 2013 p. 457">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Carafano 2008 p. 27" />

In 1989, Halliburton acquired another major engineering and construction contractor, C. F. Braun Inc., of Alhambra California, and merged it into Brown & Root.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From 1995 to 2002, Halliburton KBR was awarded at least $2.5 billion to construct and run military bases, some in secret locations, as part of the U.S. Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP).<ref name="Soldiers of Good Fortune">Template:Cite news</ref>

In September 2005, under a competitive bid contract it won in July 2005 to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters, KBR started assessment of the cleanup and reconstruction of Gulf Coast Marine and Navy facilities damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The facilities include: Naval Station Pascagoula, Naval Station Gulfport, the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, two smaller U.S. Navy facilities in New Orleans, Louisiana, and others in the Gulf Coast region.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Formation of KBR, Inc.

Halliburton announced on April 5, 2007, that it had separated from KBR, which had been its contracting, engineering, and construction unit as a part of the company for 44 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 16, 2006, KBR shares were offered for the public in an initial public offering with shares priced at $17.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The shares closed up more than 22 percent to $20.75 a share on the first trading day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Growth

In May 2019, the company introduced new branding.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the end of 2023, KBR released KCap, a decarbonization technology offered in partnership with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), India.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As of 2024, the company supports various NASA programs, educational institutions, international partner space agencies, and commercial partners.<ref name=":12" />

In September 2025, KBR’s board of directors approved the spin-off of the company’s government services segment, Mission Technology Solutions (MTS).<ref name=":17">Template:Cite web</ref> MTS is set to become a new, independent publicly-traded company by mid-to-late 2026. After the spinoff, KBR will still operate its sustainable technology business.<ref name=":17" />

Operations

GICS Code Reclassification

In April 2019, KBR's GICS code was reclassified as an IT consulting company by stock traders. MSCI, a New York firm that manages how companies are classified on various stock exchanges, reclassified KBR as a company specializing in "IT Consulting & Other Services." KBR has made a shift away from engineering and construction projects to government contracts that include information technology and other support services. KBR's government services sector accounted for more than 70 percent of the company's $4.9 billion revenue in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Facilities

In 2008, the firm announced that a new office facility would appear at the intersection of the Grand Parkway and Interstate 10 in unincorporated western Harris County, Texas, between Houston and Katy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The new complex would have been in close proximity to the Energy Corridor area of Houston.<ref>Sarnoff, Nancy. "KBR says it's moving to Energy Corridor / Getting close to customers among reasons to leave downtown". Houston Chronicle. May 3, 2008. Business 1. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.</ref> KBR planned to continue to have a corporate presence in Downtown Houston.<ref>"KBR Announces Plan for West Houston Campus Location" Template:Webarchive. KBR. May 2, 2008.</ref> In December KBR said that it would not continue with the plans due to a weakened economy.<ref>Sarnoff, Nancy. "Economic crunch undercuts real estate projects". Houston Chronicle. January 3, 2009. Retrieved on January 21, 2009.</ref>

In January 2010 KBR announced plans to extend its lease and expand its presence in Downtown Houston. The downtown expansion replaced the Harris County plans. The new total of KBR leased space in downtown will be just over Template:Convert at completion.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Aerospace Environment Protection Lab

KBR's Aerospace Environment Protection Lab is in San Antonio. It was previously the Brooks Air Force Base. The lab is used for intensive training of United States Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aviators. It includes "the pit," which houses a centrifuge that simulates high G-forces; altitude chambers used for training deep space pilots or astronauts; and hyperbaric chambers used to help the body heal and fight infections. It also houses the Panama Chamber, which is the oldest known dive chamber in the world. It was used during the construction of the Panama Canal.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Digital Engineering Lab

In May 2025, KBR opened its new Digital Engineering Lab in Dayton, Ohio.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the lab, KBR and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base leadership plan, design, and test various systems for Air Force and military customers.<ref name=":6" /> The lab allows for the creation of prototype digital twins and uses KBR's “Game” simulation design tool to test designs before fabrication.<ref name=":6" />

Mission support

KBR is heavily involved in mission support for several government agencies, including NASA, providing training and care for American astronauts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also provides engineering and design support for different industries, including the energy sector.<ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref>

NASA

In 1961, Brown & Root (KBR predecessor) won the contract for architectural design services for what would later be named the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC). As of 2024, KBR is one of the largest human spaceflight support companies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2020, KBR was awarded a NASA contract to develop and execute spaceflight operations at Marshall Space Flight Center. Under the contract, KBR was responsible for performing International Space Station payload operations and supporting the testing of NASA's flagship space launch system.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, NASA awarded KBR and Aerodyne Industries a $531 million contract for systems engineering at NASA's Goddard Space Flight center in Maryland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> KBR also houses the low pressure chamber designed to test the high altitude flying of the new X-59 research aircraft being designed by NASA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2023, KBR was the Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year at the NASA Johnson Space Center and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.<ref name=":5" /> At the time, some of the services KBR provided included “mission planning and preparation, astronaut and mission control center training, real-time flight execution, and future exploration vehicle design for all of NASA’s human spaceflight programs under the JSC’s Flight Operations Directorate”.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

That year, KBR worked with Axiom and Collins Aerospace to design and make next-generation spacesuits for NASA astronauts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The company also won a potential nine-year contract to continue mission and flight crew operations support work for NASA's human space exploration programs,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and NASA selected the Space and Technology Solutions team - a joint venture between KBR and Intuitive Machines - to provide “multifaceted engineering support for key orbital systems.”<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This latter contract supported and built on the progress of NASA's Joint Polar Satellite System program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A year later, in 2024, KBR was chosen as NASA's Agency-Level Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> As of July, KBR had three prime contracts with NASA, including Ground Systems and Missions Operations III, as well as multiple subcontracts and joint ventures.<ref name=":5" />

In January 2024, KBR and a team from NASA Ames Research Center designed and built a robot system that can autonomously build structures using specially designed lattice blocks. The robot could be used to autonomously build shelters for astronauts before they land on various planets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2025, KBR was granted a $2.45 billion NASA contract to continue research focused on astronaut health and health risks for human spaceflight missions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":13">Template:Cite web</ref> The contract is set for five years, with the option to extend for another five years, and an estimated value of $3.6 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":13" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the same month, KBR along with Axiom Space completed three successful underwater tests of their next-generation spacesuit, Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab.<ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The spacesuit is being tested for use on NASA's Artemis III mission.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":14" />

Space technology

In 1968, KBR was awarded a contract to conduct cardiovascular health research on astronauts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The company announced on November 7, 2017, that KBR secured a contract to provide astronaut medical support services for the European Space Agency's European Astronaut Center Space Medicine Office in Cologne, Germany.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Scientists and engineers working for KBR contributed to the development and deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope, which launched in 2022, as part of various Mechanical Integration Services and Technology contracts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2024, KBR was awarded a U.S. Navy contract for the continued development of space science instrument systems at the Naval Research Lab (NRL).<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> The focus of the contract was on the “design, development, analysis, fabrication, inspection, assembly, integration, testing, and documentation of sophisticated space science instruments and experimental payloads.”<ref name=":2" />

For over a decade, KBR worked with the U.S. government on a space domain awareness platform called Iron Stallion.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref> The platform tracks everything in space, runs predictive models on where assets are supposed to be, and flags users when that is not the case.<ref name=":10" /> As of June 2024, the platform was in a cloud environment, converted for commercial use. It had been sold to the U.K. and Australia.<ref name=":10" />

Sustainable technologies

KBR licenses PureSAF technology, a sustainable aviation fuel technology developed by Swedish Biofuels.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2023, KBR was awarded a design and engineering contract from The Chemours Company to “increase and advance” technology for its membrane technology to support the hydrogen economy.<ref name=":11" />

In 2024, KBR was selected to provide project management services for the design and construction of a refinery in Lobito, Benguela Province.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was also selected by First State Hydrogen, Inc. to support the "feasibility and development" of its first clean hydrogen production facility in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In September 2024, KTJV, a KBR and Technip Energies joint venture, received a contract to convert an existing natural gas import regasification terminal to a liquefied gas export plant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sustainable technology & decarbonization

In the 2020s and early 2024, KBR announced multiple sustainable technology, decarbonization, and low-carbon projects worldwide. Some of these include:

• Ammonia Technology Projects
  • KazAzot (Kazakhstan): KBR’s ammonia technology was selected for what is described as the country’s first world-scale fertilizer complex.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Shell Blue Horizons (Oman): Shell selected KBR’s “blue ammonia” technology for the Blue Horizons project, supporting hydrogen and ammonia production in Oman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • AMUFERT (Angola): KBR’s ammonia technology was adopted for a major nitrogen-fertilizer production facility in Angola.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Refining and Petrochemicals
  • Zhejiang Petroleum (China): KBR’s Residuum Oil Supercritical Extraction (ROSE) technology was chosen for what is reported as the largest solvent deasphalting (SDA) unit in China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Sabic Fujian Petrochemicals: KBR’s phenol technology was selected by Sabic Fujian for a petrochemical project in Fujian Province, China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Sustainable Aviation Fuels
  • Avina (U.S.): KBR entered into a front-end engineering and design (FEED) and technology licensing agreement with Avina for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Propylene Oxide
  • Sumitomo Chemical Alliance: KBR and Sumitomo Chemical formed a technology licensing alliance to develop more sustainable methods of producing propylene oxide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Lithium Extraction
  • GeoLith Alliance: KBR and GeoLith entered an exclusive alliance to globally license a proprietary direct-lithium-extraction (DLE) technology that aims to reduce emissions and water usage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Government Contracts

KBR provides various support services to government agencies. This has included engineering services,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> base operating support,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> human performance optimization (HPO) services,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> logistics and life support services,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and cybersecurity services.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kosovo

In 1996, Brown & Root was awarded a contract to support U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops as part of the SFOR operation in the Balkan region. This contract was extended to also include KFOR operations in Kosovo starting in 1999. Camp Bondsteel in Ferizaj, Kosovo, was constructed by the 94th Engineer Construction Battalion together with the private Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Afghanistan

The U.S. State Department awarded KBR a $100 million contract in 2002 to build a new U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> KBR was also awarded 15 Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) task orders worth more than $216 million for work under Operation Enduring Freedom, the military name for operations in Afghanistan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These included establishing base camps at Kandahar and Bagram Air Base and training foreign troops from the Republic of Georgia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cuba

KBR was involved in the development of works in Cuba. Most notably, sections of the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo, completed in 2006. Camp 6, the newest facility built for detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, was designed after a maximum-security penitentiary in the U.S.<ref>"Gitmo Photos". U.S. Department of Defense. April 5, 2006.</ref>

Iraq

In the 2000s, KBR employed more American private contractors and had a larger contract<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with the U.S. government than any other firm in Iraq. The company's roughly 14,000 U.S. employees in Iraq provided logistical support to the U.S. military.<ref>"Private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Iraq" Los Angeles Times July 4, 2007.</ref> Some U.S. Marines revived the Vietnam-era nickname 'Burn & Loot' as a name for the company during the Iraq War.<ref name="Engel 2012 p. 106">Template:Cite book</ref>

In November 2012, a dozen Oregon National Guard soldiers sued KBR for knowingly exposing them to hexavalent chromium, and were awarded more than $85 million; the soldiers were providing security to civilian workers at the Qarmat Ali water facility in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In January 2019, a case brought against KBR by hundreds of veterans, who claimed the company's practice of burning trash near barracks had sickened them, was refused by the Supreme Court, which let stand a lower court's ruling against the veterans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Recognition

• Worlds Best Companies of 2025 by TIME Magazine<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Top Workplaces 2025, Washington Post<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• America's Greatest Workplaces in Tech & Software for 2025<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Forbes America's Best Large Employers, 2024<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Glassdoor's Best-Led Companies, 2024<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Fortune 2024 award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• NASA's Agency-Level Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year, 2024<ref name=":5" />
• Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year at the NASA Johnson Space Center and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 2023<ref name=":5" />

Mergers and acquisitions

On May 7, 2008, the company announced that it would acquire Birmingham, Alabama-based engineering and construction firm BE&K for $550 million.<ref name="BE&K">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2016, KBR acquired Wyle Engineering company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That same year KBR acquired Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2018, KBR announced that it would acquire Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, a provider of technological solutions as well as mission operations in the aerospace sector, for $355 million. The acquisition was completed April 25, 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2020, KBR announced it had completed the acquisition of Centauri, LLC, a leading independent provider of space, directed energy, and other advanced technology solutions to the United States intelligence community and Department of Defense, from Arlington Capital Partners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In October 2021, KBR purchased UK and Australian systems, engineering and technology company Frazer-Nash Consultancy from Babcock International Group for a reported £293 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, KBR acquired the UK-based VIMA Group, a digital transformation technology company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2024, KBR agreed to acquire LinQuest Corp., a specialist in national security space systems.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The purchase was finalized in September.<ref name=":3" /> It set KBR up as one of the largest support contractors for the Space Force's Space Systems Command, based in Los Angeles, CA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> LinQuest was merged into KBR's Government Solutions segment and Defense and Intel business unit.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Lobbying

KBR engages third party lobbyists to represent the company in jurisdictions where they have business interests. For example, in South Australia, KBR is represented by lobbying firm MCM Strategic Communications.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Controversy

Sexual assault and harassment lawsuits

Template:See also Jamie Leigh Jones alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped by KBR coworkers while working in Iraq in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her allegations drew international attention and highlighted the use of mandatory arbitration clauses that blocked employees from pursuing sexual assault cases in court. In July 2011, a federal jury in Houston ruled against Jones, concluding that she had not proven her claims by the civil standard of evidence. Jones has never retracted her allegations, but the verdict cleared KBR of liability.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her case led Senator Al Franken to propose an amendment to the 2010 defense appropriations bill, which was passed in October 2009, allowing employees of firms with government contracts to take sexual assault and harassment claims to court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

That same year, Christina Ricz alleged that she was sexually assaulted by her KBR supervisor and filed a civil lawsuit; the case was later dismissed without reaching trial.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her case was one of several, along with those of Jones and Leamon, that drew attention to KBR's use of mandatory arbitration clauses, which prevented employees from bringing sexual assault claims to open court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Additional cases surfaced in the same period. In 2005, a former employee known publicly as "Dawn Leamon" reported being raped by a coworker while on assignment in Iraq and later filed a lawsuit. In 2009, Tracy Barker secured a nearly $3 million arbitration award against KBR, following her report that she was raped at a company camp in Iraq in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Jo Frederiksen, another female employee, filed a lawsuit claiming she was “inappropriately touched, stalked, intimidated and verbally harassed” during her time with the firm in 2003. According to Frederiksen, after she complained she was moved to an even more hostile location while some of her abusers were promoted. Her lawsuit also alleged widespread tolerance of prostitution and human trafficking among KBR employees.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Reported harassment and complaints

In 2008, congressional hearings examined allegations of sexual assault and harassment involving employees of KBR and other military contractors. Legislators cited dozens of complaints from female employees, raising concerns about the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in KBR contracts that had previously prevented victims from pursuing cases in court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Other women also alleged abuse while working for KBR. Mary Beth Kineston, an Ohio truck driver, said she was sexually harassed and groped by several KBR employees, and was later fired after reporting the threats and harassment endured by female employees.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Human trafficking lawsuit

On August 28, 2008, KBR and a Jordanian subcontractor were accused of human trafficking in a federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The suit alleged that 13 Nepali men were recruited by Daoud & Partners to work in hotels and restaurants in Jordan, but upon arrival, all 13 men had their passports seized by the contractor and were sent to Iraq to work on the Al Asad Airbase. Twelve of the employees were abducted when their unprotected convoy was attacked by a group calling itself the Army of Ansar al-Sunna, while en route to the base. Shortly thereafter, a video was released of one of the men being beheaded and the other 11 shot. The remaining employee, Buddi Prasad Gurung, claims to have been held against his will for 15 months, during which time he was forced to work at the base.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Reuters quoted attorney Matthew Handley as saying, "It doesn't appear that any of them knew they were going to Iraq." KBR made no public comment on the lawsuit, but released a statement which stated in part that it "in no way condones or tolerates unethical or illegal behavior."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2017, a U.S. appeals court refused to hold KBR liable for alleged human trafficking in connection with the 2004 kidnapping and murder by insurgents of 12 Nepali men. The men were being transported in Iraq to work for a subcontractor at a U.S. military base. This rule upheld a lower court judge's 2014 dismissal of civil claims against KBR by surviving family members and a Nepali worker who was not captured. However, the only reason the case was dismissed was because of a lack of sufficient connection with the U.S.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

"Burn pits" lawsuits

Alan Metzgar et al v. KBR Inc. are a collection of lawsuits from plaintiffs who said they developed respiratory illnesses, neurological disorders, cancer, and skin diseases from living and working near open-air burn pits operated by KBR in Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref>  

In 2013, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed the suits.<ref name=":7" /> However, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and sent the litigation back to court in early 2014. KBR maintained that it did not operate the primary burn pit mentioned in the suits and said that other environmental factors in combat zones could have contributed to troop health problems.<ref name=":7" />

Questionable charges

In December 2008, the Senate Armed Services Committee requested an investigation into Kellogg Brown and Root because of accusations from a retired Army official, Charles M. Smith, who had managed the company’s work in Iraq. He alleged that KBR lacked credible records to support more than $200 million in spending.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> A KBR spokeswoman said that the company would cooperate with any government investigation.<ref name=":8" />

Shell companies in Cayman Islands

According to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in 2008, KBR had two subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands that were used to reduce the company's tax payments. CBS News reported that this was legal, and a practice of many contractors, but that lawmakers wanted to end the practice.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Bribing Nigerian officials

KBR admitted to paying bribes to high-ranking Nigerian officials between 1994 and 2004 to secure contracts to build and expand Nigeria's Bonny Island liquefied natural gas terminal.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> KBR and Halliburton paid a $402 million fine to the U.S. Justice Department, of which Halliburton paid $382 million.<ref name=":4" /> In a separate settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Halliburton paid $177 million in profits to settle charges that KBR had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).<ref name=":4" />

Former CEO Albert Jackson Stanley, who ran KBR when it was a subsidiary to Halliburton, was sentenced to 30 months in prison via plea agreement.<ref>September 3, 2008 Albert Jackson Stanley Plea Agreement, USDC, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.</ref><ref>SEC Charges Former CEO of Kellogg, Brown & Root, Inc. with Foreign Bribery, 2008-09-03.</ref>

Waxman allegations

KBR was accused of inflating prices for importing gasoline into Iraq.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the time KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton, and Halliburton reported that the allegations distorted the truth.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Professional negligence

The case Harris v. KBR Inc. is a lawsuit over the death of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth who was electrocuted while taking a shower in Baghdad in 2008.<ref name=":7" /> The suit was filed by Maseth’s mother. She alleged that poor electrical work and maintenance on the part of KBR caused the death because the water pump in the shower was not grounded.<ref name=":7" /> In 2013, a trial judge made the decision to dismiss the case, but the decision was overturned by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.<ref name=":7" /> KBR counsel Mark Lowes said that the company "warned the Army that existing buildings in Iraq posed danger to troops and there was no evidence KBR installed the pump."<ref name=":7" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Employee safety in warzones

As of June 9, 2008, 81 American and foreign KBR employees and subcontractors have been killed, and more than 380 have been wounded by hostile action while performing services under the company's government contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Family members of injured or killed employees have sued the company in relation to the 2004 Iraq KBR convoy ambush.<ref>"KBR Iraq cases involve casualties among contractors" Template:Webarchive Houston Chronicle, January 31, 2009.</ref>

Late payment

In the UK in April 2019, Kellogg Brown & Root was suspended from the UK Government's Prompt Payment Code for failing to pay suppliers on time.<ref name="Morby-29Apr2019">Template:Cite news</ref>

Employment Dispute

On September 16, 2022, the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers Secretary, Susan Ople, confirmed a Washington Post report that 800 Filipino workers were stuck at a remote US military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean due to an employment dispute with KBR.<ref name="Canoy-16Sep2022">Template:Cite news</ref> DMW Ople reported, “They are stranded in the sense that they can't go on vacation. They are afraid that if they go home to the Philippines, the POEA won't let them come back, or they'll be fired from work.” KBR said that the Filipino workers were able to take military flights to Japan and Bahrain, and that KBR then covered the cost of their onward travel to the Philippines.<ref name="Canoy-16Sep2022" />

See also

• Top 100 Contractors of the U.S. federal government

External links

• Template:Official website
• CalPERS urged to divest from KBR
• Kellogg Brown & Root (Archive)
• Brown & Root (Archive)
• Template:Finance links