… In 2015, Sherpa filed a complaint against various companies from the Vinci group, in relation to alleged violations of the rights of migrant workers in Qatar. The organization communicated publicly about this complaint as it considers the issue of corporate accountability for human rights and environmental harms as a matter of public interest.

Vinci reacted by filing multiple claims based on defamation and the violation of the presumption of innocence against the NGO a well as its employees (including interim proceedings - “référé”). The amount in damages rose to several hundreds of thousand euros. The cases based on the violation of the presumption of innocence have been dismissed. Then Vinci reduced its claims to one symbolic euro, following criticism that these various proceedings amounted to a SLAPP. The defamation suit is still pending…