There’s a new lawsuit in the sad and sordid saga of Jamie Leigh Jones.

A former KBR employee who made national headlines with her heart-wrenching account of being raped while working at Camp Hope in Baghdad, Jones filed a lawsuit several days ago in Houston federal court against the United States of America. She filed a lawsuit against her former employer more than a year ago.

The Houston woman is suing the government for negligent supervision and hiring of its contractors and for failing to provide a safe living and working environment.

Jones claims that in July 2005, she was living in a two-story barracks with 420 men and only 20 other women, and that the facility was under the “direct control and supervision” of the U.S. government and its employees. Jones complained about constant sexual harassment and asked to be moved to a safer location, but her superiors did not transfer her.

Instead, later that same evening, according to the lawsuit, Jones was drugged and “brutally raped” in her room by several Halliburton/KBR firefighters.

Jones claims that she woke up the next morning, badly bruised with blood running down her leg, according to the lawsuit. Jones also states that her breast implants were disfigured and her pectoral muscles were torn, later requiring reconstructive surgery.

Jones’ attorney, L. Todd Kelly, was not immediately available for comment this morning.

Jones recounted her experience before Congress in December and started the Jamie Leigh Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping victims of sexual harassment and sexual abuse while working abroad for federal contractors, corporations, or government entities.

-- Chris Vogel