A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has dismissed a lawsuit filed by eight citizens of Mali who sought to hold Hershey Co, Nestle SA, Cargill Inc and others liable for child slavery on Ivory Coast cocoa farms.
The plaintiffs in the proposed class action lacked standing to bring a suit because they did not show a traceable connection between the seven defendants and the specific plantations where they worked, according to US District Judge Dabney Friedrich.
She said that the plaintiffs did not adequately explain the role of intermediaries in the cocoa supply chain, noting that the companies did not monitor activity in free zones, where about 70% to 80% of the cocoa is produced.
The plaintiffs said they were being trafficked as children after being approached by unfamiliar men who promised to pay their labor, threatened with starvation if they did not work, and required to live in squalor.
Their lawyer, Terry Collingsworth, said the plaintiffs plan to appeal, trying to get the companies to keep their promises and end the abhorrent system they have created. The defendants included Mars Inc., Mondelez International Inc., Barry Callebaut and Olam International Ltd.
In court papers, the seven defendants said they strongly condemned the use of forced labor and were working to address non-forced child labor in cocoa supply chains.
But they said the plaintiffs' overbroad legal theory could leave too many people liable for forced child labor, including consumers and retailers who might benefit from lower prices.
The plaintiffs had brought a lawsuit under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
In June of last year, the US Supreme Court threw out a similar lawsuit by six Malian citizens against Cargill and Nestle, which was brought under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 federal law.
It was the latest in a series of rulings limiting access to federal courts based on human rights abuses outside the country.
The case is Coubaly et al v Cargill Inc et al, US District Court, District of Columbia, No.