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Other Commitments And Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Other Commitments and Contingencies Other Commitments and Contingencies
Chadian Employee Class Action. In May 2018, former employees of our former Chadian subsidiary, Subsahara Services, Inc. ("SSI"), filed a class action suit claiming unpaid damages arising from the ESSO Chad Development Project for Exxon Mobil Corporation ("Exxon") dating back to the early 2000s.  Exxon is also named as a defendant in the case. The SSI employees previously filed two class action cases in or around 2005 and 2006 for alleged unpaid overtime and bonuses.  The Chadian Labour Court ruled in favor of the SSI employees for unpaid overtime resulting in a settlement of approximately $25 million which was reimbursed by Exxon under its contract with SSI.  The second case for alleged unpaid bonuses was ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court of Chad. 

The current case claims $122 million in unpaid bonuses characterized as damages rather than employee bonuses to avoid the previous Chadian Supreme Court dismissal and a 5-year statute of limitations on wage-related claims.  SSI’s initial defense was filed and a hearing was held in December 2018.  A merits hearing was held in February 2019.  In March 2019, the Labour Court issued a decision awarding the plaintiffs approximately $34 million including a $2 million provisional award.  Exxon and SSI have appealed the award and requested suspension of the provisional award which was approved on April 2, 2019.  Exxon and SSI filed a submission to the Court of Appeal on June 21, 2019, and filed briefs at a hearing on February 28, 2020. The plaintiffs failed to file a response on March 13, 2020, and a hearing was scheduled for April 17, 2020. The hearing was postponed due to COVID-19 but took place on September 18, 2020. On October 9, 2020, the appellate court of Moundou awarded the plaintiffs approximately $19 million. SSI filed an appeal of this decision to the Chadian Supreme Court on December 28, 2020. SSI’s request for suspension on the enforceability of the award from the Chadian Supreme Court was granted on January 4, 2021, and therefore there is no current risk of enforcement of the judgment.

At this time, we do not believe a risk of material loss is probable related to this matter.  SSI is no longer an existing entity in Chad or the United States.  Further, we believe any amounts ultimately paid to the former employees related to this adverse ruling would be reimbursable by Exxon based on the applicable contract.  

North West Rail Link Project. We participate in an unincorporated joint venture with two partners to provide engineering and design services in relation to the operations, trains and systems of a metro rail project in Sydney, Australia.  The project commenced in 2014 and during its execution encountered delays and disputes resulting in claims and breach notices submitted to the joint venture by the client.  Since November 2018, the client has submitted multiple claims alleging breach of contract and breach of duty by the joint venture in its execution of the services, claiming losses and damages of up to approximately $300 million Australian dollars.   We currently believe the gross amount of the claims significantly exceeds the client’s entitlement as well as the joint venture’s limits of liability under the contract and that the claims will be covered by project-specific professional indemnity insurance subject to deductibles. 
In August 2019, the client advised that it had filed legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales to preserve its position with regards to statute of limitations. The joint venture was served a notice of proceedings in November 2019 and an initial hearing was expected to occur in April 2020 but was postponed. The client submitted an amended statement on May 28, 2020 claiming damages of $301 million Australian dollars but did not provide any detail to support that sum. KBR has a 33% participation interest in the joint venture and the partners have joint and several liability with respect to all obligations under the contract. As of June 30, 2021, we have reserved an amount that is immaterial for this matter. However, it is reasonably possible that we may ultimately be required to pay material amounts in excess of reserves. At this time, fact discovery and expert review are still ongoing. Additionally, we have not received substantiation of the client’s alleged damages and therefore, a more precise estimate cannot be made at this time. The joint venture, joint venture insurers, and client continue to be engaged in discussions concerning potential resolution of the claims.