How the Executive Order May Be Interpreted What else does EO 13303 do, besides making claims arising from Iraqi oil production unenforceable?
Arguably, it may also prohibit a plaintiff from bringing a tort claim for damages caused by a company’s negligence in a project arising from Iraqi oil production. That would apparently be true even if the company (say, Halliburton), and the accident victim (say, an American worker working for an independent subcontractor) were American, and if the victim tried to sue in a U.S. court (say, in Texas.) And that leads to an unfortunate anomaly. The same worker might get a multimillion-dollar verdict in the U.S. if he had been injured here. But by going to Iraq, to work there, he may not be able to recover a dollar in court, and be at the mercy of Halliburton’s decision as to how much — or even whether — to compensate him. Some have suggested that the Executive Order was prompted by recent Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) suits, and the resulting fear that American companies in Iraq could be sued in U.S. Courts by Iraqis or other foreign citizens invoking the ATCA. Under the Executive Order,
