Military Contractor Says He Was Blacklisted

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (CN) — A former Army base supervisor claims in court that his security firm "tormented" him and wrongfully blacklisted him, causing him to be fired from another company after he left.

Grant Liverett, of Charleston, N.C., sued his former employer DynCorp International, claiming he was forced to quit his job because he didn't let military personnel bring alcohol onto a base.

In 2014, Liverett was working as an AG Post Supervisor at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo when U.S. Army and Serbian Army personnel requested entry onto the military instillation, according to his complaint, which was filed Sept. 16 in Newport News, Va. Circuit Court.

After a routine search of the individuals and vehicles, Liverett was notified that a bottle of alcohol had been discovered.

He says he told Lt. Colonel Pehlman that the alcohol was not allowed onto the installment. Pehlman allegedly responded by saying the bottle was to be presented to the base commander by the Serbian Army personnel as a gesture of good will, that the base commander did not want the bottle destroyed, and asked Liverett do him a favor by not destroying the bottle so as to create an incident with the Serbian Army personnel, who were armed.

Liverett says he agreed to hold the bottle and permit it onto the installment if the base commander sent for it before the end of his shift. Hearing nothing from the base commander, he poured out the alcohol and threw the bottle in a waste receptacle, the complaint states.

The next day, in the presence of Wade Childs, Dyncorp's project manager for security operations at Camp Bondsteel, Liverett was told he was being charged with a general order violation, a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for the consumption of alcohol while on duty and in uniform, according to the lawsuit.

Against protocol, Liverett claims he was not taken to the base medical facility to administer a breathalyzer test.

Pehlman was interviewed as part of investigation and confirmed Liverett's actions during the encounter and that Liverett had disposed of the alcohol and bottle, the complaint states.

Liverett attempted to contact a representative of Dyncorp's human resources/legal department about the charge brought against him by Childs, but he claims the incident was properly investigated.

Childs allegedly told Liverett not to speak with anyone in regards to the allegations being made towards him, ordered him to leave the base, and threatened him with being blacklisted.

For a week and a half, Liverett says he was "subjected to a continuing and systematic court of torment and abuse" from other Dyncorp employees, "including sending guards to [his] room at all hours of the day and night to prevent him from any sustained sleep, continued fabrications of the allegations against him resulting in the breakup of his marriage, and threats of imprisonment."

Liverett became severely depressed and experienced suicidal ideations, causing him to seek out counseling services from a chaplain, according to his lawsuit.

"Due to his pending termination from employment...Plaintiff resigned his employment on or about October 3, 2014, leaving humiliated, with very little money and no place to go," the complaint states.

Liverett says he got a job a week later with another company, nonparty Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, and fully disclosed the circumstance of his resignation with Dyncorp.

His primary responsibility with Torres was to help with getting the security contract for Camp Bondsteel, currently held by Dyncorp, according to the complaint.

Torres was awarded the security contract for Camp Bondsteel on June 17, 2014, Liverett says, and he was named project manager for the camp on June 22.

By September of that year, Dyncorp allegedly learned that Liverett had been instrumental in taking the contract away from them. It then published a list of employees who, because of alleged offenses, were barred from entry onto U.S. military installations, which included Liverett, he says.

Liverett claims he was fired from Torres three months later because of his inclusion on the list. He also says he has been unable to get a job with other military contractors.

Liverett sued Dyncorp for $2 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages. He is represented by Robert Dawson in Glen Allen, Va., who did not respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment.

Dyncorp also did not respond to an email requesting comment.

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