Gross sues U.S., employer in Washington

By Tom Schoenberg

From Bloomberg News

Alan Gross, a U.S. contractor arrested and jailed in Cuba, accused the government and his employer of ignoring the dangers of his assignment in the Communist nation and failing to adequately protect him.

Gross, in a lawsuit filed today in federal court in Washington, alleges the U.S. and Development Alternatives Inc. didn’t provide him with training and education to minimize risks to his safety and refused to pull him out of the country after he expressed concerns about the operation. Gross and his wife are seeking $60 million in damages.

“DAI engaged in this behavior — putting profits before safety — despite having, along with defendant United States, superior knowledge regarding the risks posed to Mr. Gross,” Scott Gilbert, a lawyer for Gross, wrote in the complaint.

Gross, 63, was working as a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cuba when he was arrested Dec. 3, 2009, and charged with “actions against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state.” He has maintained his innocence while serving a 15-year sentence.

Gross’s detention has heightened tensions between Cuba and the U.S., which has called for his immediate release and rejected charges that he was a spy for carrying telecommunications equipment to the island. Bill Richardson, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, failed to win Gross’s release in a visit to Cuba last year.

Steven O’Connor, a spokesman for Bethesda, Maryland-based DAI, had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Justice Department, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The case is Gross v. Development Alternatives Inc., 12-cv- 1860, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).