Lawsuit claims unsafe working conditions in Iraq

Lawsuit claims unsafe working conditions in Iraq
By Jared Leone, Times Staff Writer
In print: Monday, September 15, 2008
TAMPA—Patricia Howard wanted to earn good money and serve her country. An Army reservist, she took a job with a Tampa-based company that dismantles explosives. She followed that company to war-torn Iraq.

Now she's suing USA Environmental in U.S. District Court, alleging its managers broke with company policy and federal law by exposing her to a hazard:

Pigeon droppings.

The 2006 lawsuit, sealed until recently under the Whistleblower Act, asks for a portion of the $120-million USA Environmental earned through a contract with the government. Under the False Claims Act, the government also could recoup 70 to 80 percent of the money.

"You had to be aware of your surroundings to be safe,'' said Howard, 39, who now lives in New York. "Going overseas to a war area, you accept that risk as well. ... The risk I did not accept was the one they felt they could expose us to."
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