NEW YORK (CNN) - The daughter of an American truck driver killed in Iraq last year has sued Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR, claiming that her father, Tony Johnson, was not properly shielded from harm in his work.

April Johnson filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., claiming wrongful death and fraud. The incident stems from a truck convoy ambush on April 9 when the drivers were delivering fuel to the Baghdad International Airport.

In that incident, Thomas Hamill was taken hostage and later freed. Six other drivers had been killed.

A statement from April Johnson's attorneys -- Lopez, Hodes Restaino, Milman & Skikos -- contends that "Halliburton/KBR deployed its civilian truck drivers into a hostile active war zone despite knowledge from intelligence sources that there existed a substantial certainty the civilian drivers, moving in U.S. military vehicles, would be ambushed by Iraqi insurgents and killed or seriously injured."

The lawsuit, as explained in the news release, said Halliburton (up $0.91 to $43.05, Research) "intentionally sent the convoy as an enemy 'decoy' in the U.S. military camouflage vehicles, to ensure the safe arrival and delivery of a second H-KBR fuel convoy."

The law firm said that before they were sent to Iraq, Halliburton "assured the civilian drivers that they would not be driving 'military-type' vehicles to transport goods because of the insurgency.

The complaint said workers would be "placed in '100 percent safe' working conditions and engaged in peaceful rebuilding missions."

"The civil action against Halliburton and KBR alleges, and will seek to demonstrate, that Halliburton fraudulently misrepresented the employees' working conditions in Iraq and that in fact, Halliburton's civilian employee deaths in Iraq were far greater than reported."

The suit says Halliburton ordered the convoy to take "a longer and extremely dangerous route to the airport's North Gate, along a highway that had been designated by both U.S. military forces and Halliburton/KBR's Central Command as a 'black' zone -- actively engaged in enemy attacks and military combat."

The filing said Halliburton knew at the time that the "portion of the highway was to be avoided at all costs, especially by unarmed civilians driving U.S. military tankers."

Halliburton could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit. But it did offer a statement earlier in the year about Tony Johnson.

"Halliburton and KBR are deeply saddened to confirm the death and feels the loss of Tony Johnson, 47, of Riverside, Calif., one of our colleagues involved in a convoy ambush on April 9 in Iraq."

The statement praised his inspirational courage.

"Tony was a volunteer worker, and his abrupt and unnatural death came while he was trying to help create a better life for the Iraqis. He exhibited bravery, diligence and strength in his work. We grieve for his family's loss and the pain we all feel because of his unfinished life," the company said.

"All of us at Halliburton remain resolved and committed to completing the mission in Iraq. We hope all Americans will extend and broaden their support of the soldiers to include the courageous civilians who are there to assist the troops and the Iraqi people."

The statement explained that "civilian contractors work side-by-side with the military and Iraqi people. Our work is difficult and in a dangerous environment, and Halliburton and its subcontractors have lost 34 personnel while performing services under our contracts in the Kuwait-Iraq region."

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