Hi my name is Rebekah Brown I'm a journalist in Winter Park Florida. I'm here today with
Brian Wiklendt he is a defense base act and longshore act attorney in Maitland Florida with
the law firm Garfinkel Schwartz. The reason I'm talking to Brian is that he gave me some
alarming information today after receiving a call from overseas which
Garfinkel Schwartz often does. Garfinkel Schwartz helps people around the world
receive their benefits from the Defense Base Act Law and Brianthanks for
talking with me today.
My pleasure thanks for having. So tell me exactly how is it that you were
contacted and what was it that you were told that was so alarming. Well a gentlemen
from Turkey saw our website and read the website and contacted us for help with
some claim claimants that he has in Turkey. And these these larger companies that get a
U.S. government contract for billions of dollars hire people that are called
third-country Nationals. It just so happens that I am honored to work with families
in Turkey, but there there are families all around the world including Indonesia,
India, Africa. Turkey I think is the third-largest that's supplies the
labor force for people who work under these contracts. These claims are
difficult in a way because the insurance companies and the people are ultimately
responsible for this and they want to have everything perfectly pristine. They
wanted a death certificate. They want a direct contract between the subcontractor and any
contractor which no one would ever have. They want the direct contract
written contract from the truck driver that was deceased. Well a lot of times
they don't have any contract. They're just they're hired they come as a person
to the workforce and they get work and they get paid cash or they get paid some way. So there are obstacles that
if you have knowledge of the area
and you know how to prove a case to a judge these these these barriers can be
basically these barriers can be overcome by other ways of proving things not
simply what the insurance company wants. A judge will look at different different
types of things to show that this person existed. That this person was killed in the
line of duty.
This person worked under subcontract is connected with the American government in some way.
I finally found a way an avenue to help third country nationals that have absolutely no
way or clue of knowing that they are somehow connected with the US government and that they
may get benefits under federal law. Ok let's back up just one step and explain to me what and who is
hiring who. If we would start at the top.
It's the United States Department of Defense and they go and they hire
subcontractors or contractors companies from the United States, Europe, India, from
Asia, from Africa, Central America. It's those contractors who are sometimes
called subs. They have to go on then and find staffing to go and work in these war
zones including Iraq and Afghanistan. When they are hiring people they're
hiring people to do manual labor and technical jobs they may be working on U.S. military bases or
for the military in various capacities. Whether it's providing food service,
water, transportation, they could be working on weaponry, they could be
building and constructing in Iraq or Afghanistan. So again the Department of
Defense hires subcontractors and contractors are going to other countries.
What happens is exactly what you said it occurs. The Department of Defense, the
State Department, the Justice Department. Any type of relief type of situation they
contractor these things out to to large contractors. And those large contractors
get these people from a labor pool. A lot of people a lot of them live in
villages especially in Turkey,
Indonesia, the Philippines. A lot of them are illiterate and a lot of them did manual labor
construction type situations. Or they were drivers and they were transporting
supplies and what not to the places that the troops needed the supplies to go.
Usually there's always a connection that can be found between these
subcontractors and the main contractor. But sometimes it's hard to find because
there they don't want you to know they don't want you to know you have this
rights under the general contract. But the Defense Base Act law is clear that
subcontractors along with the person that has the direct contract with the government but
the Department of Defense they're all covered as workers under the Defense Base Act
Law. They can't circumvent the system by hiring people from a different foreign
company who's doing the work that they're supposed to be doing under the
contract. So as long as there as long as a subcontractor is doing the work that
the main contractor contracted with America for? Whether that be transporting
supplies ammunition, firearms, supplies, building a base, going out in the field, in
supporting the troops as security officers and stuff where a subcontract
is made to do the job of the original responsibility of the general contractor
those people are all covered. People that may not be covered are people like let's say
Haliburton hires UPS to transport to transport documents and that plane
crashes in Iraq. Those people aren't covered. That's not a general, that's not a subcontract that's
a service contract. So as long as it's a subcontract to do work that is the
responsibility of the larger company that then those people are covered. And no
none of them know it.