Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — A U.S. security contractor has been fined for failing
to report casualties of its employees in Iraq.

The U.S. Labor Department fined the Sandi Group $75,000 for failing to
report on the death of its staffers in Iraq. Sandi, based in Washington, was
said to have delayed reporting of 30 attacks that resulted in the death or
injury of its employees between 2003 and 2005.

By 2013, nearly 3,600 civilian contract workers in Iraq were reported killed, with another 90,000 injured. Critics said the penalties issued by the Labor Department have not improved the treatment of the families of injured or killed contractors.

“The [Labor Department] is worse than ever,” Marcie Clark, who operates a website for injured contractors, said.

“Timely reporting of work-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities
are vitally important to protect the interests of injured workers and their families,” Labor Department regional director Gary Steinberg said.

Steinberg said the fine marked a settlement between Sandi and the
government. Sandi, which employed mostly Iraqis as security guards, worked on more than $80 million worth of U.S. projects.

“The fine, believed to be the largest ever levied against a single
company for failing to report war zone casualties in a timely manner,” the
U.S. watchdog ProPublica said on Feb. 8.

The fine was said to have marked a government crackdown on U.S.
companies that worked in Iraq. U.S. law requires that contractors abroad
provide insurance as well as death benefits to staffers or their families.

ProPublica asserted that insurance companies delayed payment and medical
treatment to Americans injured in Afghanistan and Iraq. Non-U.S. nationals
hired by the U.S. military were also said to have been denied benefits.

  $80 million worth of U.S. projects, the Sandi Group, U.S. fines contractor in Iraq for not reporting casualties, U.S. Labor Department