马里兰州的一名联邦法官将允许举报人投诉对AECOM和国防承包商Dyncorp International LLC的前政府服务部门（现在由承包商Amentum拥有），并指控该人贩运人口贩运并违反了《联邦虚假索赔法》。由公司合资企业持有的科威特的美国军事合同。

美国地方法院法官Paula Xinis在巴尔的摩裁定3月9日裁定，有足够的证据支持29家科威特翻译人员的指控，即AECOM NINTAL PROPORN PROPONCE INC.和DYNCORP的一家合资企业全球语言解决方案（GLS）的前母公司公司（GLS），知道并直接参与了合资企业雇用的语言学家的虐待，包括他们受到驱逐出境的威胁，并没收了护照。

被告已要求法院驳回申诉，认为这些事实不足以承担责任。

该业务一直是AECOM政府服务集团的一部分，直到2020年1月，该公司以24亿美元的价格向私人股权所有者出售，并开始从事Amentum开展业务。Dyncorp于2020年11月被Amentum收购。

AECOM的发言人说，该公司“对此诉讼不承担或承担责任。”Amentum发言人告诉ENR对该裁决没有评论。新利luck

公司控制还是分居？

问题在于是否GLS parent firms had enough control over its day-to-day operations at the time, or whether there was enough corporate separation to shield the parents from liability for the joint venture entity’s actions under the False Claims Act.

GLS was awarded two contracts in 2007 and 2011 by the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command to provide translation, interpretation and intelligence gathering during Operation Iraq Freedom. The contracts totaled about $14.3 billion, the ruling says.

The linguists claim they witnessed overbilling in the 2007 contract and false claims by GLS that it complied with Kuwaiti immigration and labor laws, which they say should have made the firm ineligible for the second contract. The plaintiffs also claim the company’s abuse of labor laws resulted in the arrest of some linguists who were forced to live in overcrowded and unsanitary housing, sign false confessions and were expelled from Kuwait.

投诉称，GLS的母公司“行使这种完全控制和统治”，该单位只是“从中东获得军事合同的收入的工具”。

法官说：“仅这些指控就足以允许索赔继续发现。”“法院认为，没有进一步的事实发展，驳回AECOM是不当的。”

The GLS parent firms also selected its management board, controlled the terms of its members’ employment, set rates and benefits paid to employees; maintained the exclusive right to appoint the joint venture’s executives and played an active role in its “crisis management,” the complaint contends.

Aecom寻求解雇

The plaintiffs allege that the parent firms knew about the mistreatment of the linguists in Kuwait, submitting a March 2013 email from the GLS president to AECOM and DynCorp executives that he witnessed “suffering among the linguists,” and reported that the translators' passports had been confiscated, subjecting them to potential arrest if they attempted to leave Kuwait. He added that should GLS be unable to fulfill its contract, there would be financial loss to the joint venture, and to the parent firms.

“法院考虑了用于构成GL的协议，以及管理其行动是投诉不可或缺的协议；”西尼斯法官的裁决说。投诉还声称，母公司创建了GLS来竞争美国军事合同，并保留了专有权，以将该公司限制在其授予的任何合同中。

法官指出，AECOM对其控制GL的程度提出了异议。该公司认为，根据联邦反贩运法的索赔“未能使AECOM的合理知识足以根据法规赋予责任。”

但是西尼斯在她的裁决中说，该法律“不仅使主要罪犯负责，而且要从参与强迫劳动的合资企业中受益于财务或获得任何有价值的任何人。”

她补充说：“考虑到[原告]声称AECOM对GLS的控制程度，以及AECOM，Dyncorp，GLS和其他人之间的持续沟通水平，在此阶段，指控足以支持Aecom知道AECOM知道AECOM知道的推论。linguists’ passports had been confiscated, and [that they] were being threatened with deportation.” Xinis also said AECOM knew they were working in violation of Kuwaiti law and was aware of their living conditions.

法官说，原告对救济的主张“面对合理”，“将继续进行”。