October 23, 2018 Court of Appeals Finds Nestle and Cargill can be Liable under Alien Tort Statute for Child Slavery in Cote d'Ivoire
A three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on October 23, 2018 that the IRAdvocates’ lawsuit on behalf of former child slaves against Nestle and Cargill for using child slaves in Cote D’Ivoire to harvest cocoa can proceed under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. § 1350. The Court solidly rejected the companies’...argument that under new decisions by the Supreme Court no cases can be brought where the actual harmful act..occurred outside of the United States. The Court...held that Plaintiffs’ case can proceed based on the legal theory that these two...multinationals “aided and abetted” child slavery from their corporate offices in the United
States by continuing across many years to knowingly purchase cocoa that was harvested by child slaves and providing funds, supplies, training and other assistance to the plantations in Cote D’Ivoire that the companies knew were using child slaves... There are several possible legal hurdles remaining, including the companies seeking further review by the Supreme Court...[T]he legal team will soon be filing a new complaint against Nestle, Cargill and other major companies for knowingly benefitting from the trafficking of children into slavery to harvest cocoa for these companies...