SCOTUS Dismisses Challenge to Nestle, Cargill Over Child Slavery Claims

The Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that allowed six individuals from Mali to sue two major food companies, Nestle USA and Cargill, Inc., over the claim that they had been trafficked as child slaves to cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast that provide cocoa to the companies. In a June 17 opinion, SCOTUS found that since the individuals' injuries occurred overseas and that Nestle and Cargill were only accused of "general corporate activity," the case was an "impermissible extraterritorial application of the Alien Tort Statute."

The individuals sued Nestle and Cargill under the ATS, which gives federal courts jurisdiction to hear claims brought "by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States." SCOTUS found that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit impermissibly allowed this case to proceed.

It was alleged that Nestle and Cargill "knew or should have known" about the farms that used child slaves and that they failed to use their economic power over the farms to stop the practice. Judge Clarence Thomas, writing for the 8-1 majority, said that nearly all the conduct occurred abroad and that the claim of "general corporate activity" was not strong enough to link decisions in the U.S. to this wrongdoing.

"Pleading general corporate activity, like 'mere corporate presence' ... does not draw a sufficient connection between the cause of action respondents seek and domestic conduct," Thomas said. "To plead facts sufficient to support a domestic application of the ATS, plaintiffs must allege more domestic conduct than general corporate activity common to most corporations."