HOUSTON, April 30 (UPI) — The family of an architect who died while working for a military contractor in Iraq says his heart was not shipped back to Texas with the rest of his body.
Chuck Doherty’s family has filed a lawsuit against his employers, FrontierMEDEX and Pacific Architects and Engineers, Courthouse News Service reported Monday. In court papers filed in state court in Houston, the plaintiffs say Doherty was forced to work long hours in difficult conditions in Iraq only to have his body mistreated after his death from an apparent heart attack in October 2011.
To add insult to injury, his employers tried to bill the family for the cost of shipping his heart back to the United States, the lawsuit says.
“To simply say that the circumstances surrounding his death are bizarre does not adequately describe them,” the complaint states. “Because Chuck’s family was never provided with credible information regarding his passing, they have been unable to fully and finally determine how Chuck died.”
In addition to the emotional toll, the family has been unable to collect on Doherty’s life insurance because of uncertainty about the cause of death, the lawsuit says. The return of the body to the United States was also delayed because it was sent to Kirkuk, apparently because his employers believed mistakenly it could be shipped home on a military flight, and then returned to Erbil.
Copyright 2013 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).
This man chose to work for a military contractor who put him in a job in dangerous country overseas. And probably paid him a good salary to do it. The plaintiffs say he was forced to work long hours in difficult conditions. He could have quit. Every thing he did was a choice, except die, of course. Hate it when that happens. I will save my sympathy for those who deserve it.
ever hear of karma just? a cold heartless person will reap what he sows.
@ maybe – Yes. And I have also heard of the tooth fairy, santa claus, and the easter bunny. Hearing about something doesn’t make it true.
This company should be put out of business. Shame on them.