U.S. Company Liable for Qatar World Cup Labor Exploitation, Lawsuit Alleges
A group of Filipino workers filed suit against Jacobs Solutions, which oversaw construction of 2022 World Cup stadiums
More than three dozen Filipino construction workers who helped build the multibillion-dollar stadiums hosting last year’s World Cup in Qatar have sued the U.S.-based company that oversaw their construction, alleging it violated human trafficking laws and knowingly participated in an exploitative venture.
The civil complaint, filed Thursday in a U.S. District Court in Denver, alleges construction-services firm Jacobs Solutions and its subsidiaries illegally profited from their participation in a decadelong project that relied on forced and trafficked labor to build the tournament’s facilities from scratch.
The suit details a litany of alleged abuses against the plaintiffs, including confiscated passports, requirements to work 36 or 72 hours straight, crowded housing, limited water in extreme heat, insufficient food and limited access to medical care.
“Our clients allege they were exploited and abused, that they were convinced to go to Qatar based on lies, and that they were coerced to work despite being denied humane living and working conditions,” said Eli Kay-Oliphant, a lawyer at Sparacino, one of the law firms representing the laborers.
Jacobs said it had not yet had the opportunity to thoroughly review the allegations but was “committed to respecting the human rights and dignity of those within our operations and where we do business.” CH2M Hill initially secured the contract to oversee the Qatari construction projects. Jacobs acquired the firm in 2017.
A representative for Qatar couldn’t immediately be reached to comment.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which targets forced labor, involuntary servitude and other forms of human trafficking.
The act allows a victim to sue perpetrators of the abuse, even if their involvement was limited to participation in a venture that involved human trafficking, if they knew or should have known about the exploitation.
Qatar has long been criticized for relying on the exploitative kafala sponsorship system to recruit migrant workers for its booming, ambitious construction industry. These laborers are often underpaid, overworked and housed in squalid conditions, and employers regularly confiscate workers’ passports for the term of their contracts, according to a report by the U.S. State Department.
The plaintiffs took employment contracts with subcontractors at the World Cup construction sites in Qatar for mostly two- to three-year stretches between 2012 and 2021, according to the suit. During that period, CH2M, later Jacobs, and relevant subsidiaries were responsible for managing the work operations and employed “health and safety managers” and other advisory positions, tasked with site visits to monitor safety standards to contract requirements, according to the suit.
Human-rights groups estimated deaths on the World Cup job sites likely reached into the thousands, a number Qatar disputes. In 2014, the International Trade Union Confederation used statistics from foreign embassies and the country’s medical ministry to estimate that 1,200 migrant laborers, most of them from South Asia, had died in three years while building projects mostly tied to the World Cup.
Qatari leaders in statements last year touted modernization efforts and reforms that included a raise of minimum wages and food or housing allowances, although international watchdog groups say the new laws have had meager implementation.