Sime Darby Plantation drops lawsuit against activist
Sime Darby Plantation Bhd has withdrawn its lawsuit against an activist who accused it of discrepancies in one of its sustainability reports.
In a statement today, the Malaysian palm oil firm said the move came after it learned it was not being investigated by local authorities.
“The discovery application was predicated on Sime Darby’s understanding that...
Sime Darby Plantation Bhd has withdrawn its lawsuit against an activist who accused it of discrepancies in one of its sustainability reports.
In a statement today, the Malaysian palm oil firm said the move came after it learned it was not being investigated by local authorities.
“The discovery application was predicated on Sime Darby’s understanding that an investigation had commenced as a result of the complaint lodged by Duncan Jepson of Liberty Shared to the Securities Commission Malaysia.
“It has since been clarified by the commission that there is no investigation into the complaint at present.
“Accordingly, Sime Darby has now withdrawn the discovery application,” it said.
The discovery application was previously filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, in the United States to “obtain important information” about a complaint Jepson filed alleging “wrongful disclosures” in Sime Darby Plantation’s 2019 sustainability report.
The lawsuit prompted backlash against the already under-fire palm oil giant.
One activist quit while a second threatened to leave the firm's fledgling Expert Stakeholder Human Rights Assessment Commission.
Sime Darby Plantation set up the human rights commission on March 1 to investigate forced labour and child labour allegations made against it.
Liberty Shared, a human-trafficking NGO based in Hong Kong, previously made those allegations and petitioned the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to censure the firm.
In December 2020, the CBP banned all Sime Darby Plantation products.
Lawsuit withdrawal lauded
Meanwhile, migrant rights activist Andy Hall expressed his support for Sime Darby Plantation’s move to drop its lawsuit against Jepson.
“I consider today’s move by Sime Darby Plantation to withdraw legal action for discovery against an activist and NGO reflects a genuine show of good faith from the company’s leadership to sustainability and longer-term growth in areas of human rights, transparency, and stakeholder engagement.
“Activists... need to be able to undertake their important and independent work in promoting responsible corporate conduct in societies around the world without fear of legal action,” he said in a statement.
Hall, who is also on Sime Darby Plantation's Expert Stakeholder Human Rights Assessment Commission, previously said he was considering leaving it.
He had since changed his mind.
“As this legal action for discovery has now been withdrawn, I have decided to continue to work alongside the Sime Darby Plantation Board and Impactt as a member of the (commission),” he said.
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