Mother Jones reports that Jamie Leigh Jones – the woman who in 2005 made explosive allegations of gang rape and intimidation while employed in Iraq by former Halliburton subsidiary KBR – stands a “good chance” of losing her civil suit against the contractor due to “significant holes and discrepancies in her story.” These revelations, however, should not call into question the meaningful legislation drafted and passed into law in response to her alleged ordeal.

In the fall of 2009, then-recently sworn-in Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) introduced and won passage of an amendment to the fiscal year (FY) 2010 Defense Appropriations bill requiring contractors to allow employees to bring sexual assault cases to court.

Sen. Franken introduced the amendment on behalf of Jones, who at that point had been battling for several years a clause in her employment contract with KBR requiring her to settle her claims with a private arbitrator hired by the contractor.

Although rumors began to surface that legislators would kill the amendment in conference, Sen. Franken emerged with a "remarkably strong” law requiring contractors to grant employees their day in court over charges of “assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress or negligent hiring practice[s].”

No matter what “holes” have appeared in Jones’ story – and let’s be clear: she still alleges she was raped and there seems to be enough evidence corroborating that charge – it is unconscionable for a contractor to prevent an individual from accessing the civil justice system over something as personal as sexual assault.

It would be unfortunate if Jones lost her civil case against KBR – especially because it would send a discouraging message to other victims of sexual assault in general and victims in a war zone in particular – but neither the outcome of her case nor the fact that Jones isn't the perfect accuser should impugn the credibility of the legislation taken up in her name to address a serious contracting issue.

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