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An underreported story in Georgia is that Jacobs Solutions/Engineering has been sued for committing serious human rights violations against dozens of Filipino workers. The Switzerland-based Center Against Human Trafficking, though, is watching this lawsuit process proceed, noting that the suit— filed in late 2023– alleges that Jacobs participated in human trafficking and forced labor abuses in connection with the FIFA 2022 World Cup. Filipino workers claim they were subjected to several human rights violations, including poor living conditions; misrepresented terms of employment; wage theft; passport confiscation; and “inhumane” hours.

“The allegations brought against Jacobs Solutions Inc. by dozens of our fellow Filipino workers are deeply disturbing and must be urgently addressed. It is a black mark not only on the company but on the very institutions that allowed this to happen, despite years of scrutiny and alarm bells from human rights organizations,” said Gabriel Aranzamendez, an official with the Confederation of Filipino Workers.

Georgia’s capital is well known as a leader in the global civil and human rights movement. That’s why the lawsuit filed by these Filipino workers against Jacobs (which does a lot of business in Georgia) is causing concern as Atlanta is preparing to host matches of the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

The Center, in a tough statement, says: “For the governments of the city of Atlanta, including the county governments of Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett and Henry counties to continue to engage with a company that has been formally accused of such behavior would certainly tarnish Atlanta’s global image as the vanguard of civil and human rights. … At a minimum, Jacobs’ existing contracts with the city of Atlanta and all county governments in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, should be withheld until they are proven not guilty in a lawsuit for alleging human rights violation and human trafficking.”

It should be noted that, on the day the suit was filed, Jacobs maintained that it was committed to respecting the human rights of all those in its operations. Also, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre— a 501c(3) in the United States– invited FIFA to respond to the lawsuit and its many allegations. FIFA, the Resource Centre reports, never responded to its request for comments.

Furthermore, this past June, a U.S. federal court allowed the case to proceed, with the judge finding American courts have “extra-territorial jurisdiction” over trafficking offenses. However, the ruling also found that the violators had to have U.S. nationality, excluding some of the trafficking claims. But forced labor claims are proceeding against Jacobs and the company CH2M.