A former Halliburton worker sued the oilfield services company this week to recover overtime wages he said were illegally withheld from the company's workers in Iraq.
In a civil lawsuit filed in US District Court in Houston, Sammie Curry Smith, Jr. said he often worked more than 80 hours per week as a heating and ventilation systems mechanic beginning in January for KBR, Halliburton's engineering and construction unit.
KBR, the US military's largest private contractor in Iraq, has been investigated by the US Department of Justice for its billing practices in Iraq regarding alleged overcharges for fuel and costs of food services provided to troops.
Mr Smith, who earned a base salary of $4,004 per month, including a 55 per cent premium for "danger pay", was paid only his regular wage rate for the extra hours, according to the lawsuit.
Lawyers for Smith said today he and other employees had to sign an agreement that they would not be paid at the 150 per cent rate for overtime hours that is required by US law.
"We believe it was not just Mr Smith but a substantial number of employees that were not paid fairly," said Ms Melissa Moore, a lawyer representing Mr Smith.