Supreme Court: Former Child Slaves Used In Cocoa Production Can Sue Nestle

By Carey Wedler-JANUARY 13, 2016

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled a lawsuit filed by former child slaves against mega-corporation Nestle can move forward. The decision finalizes a lower court’s prior ruling, which Nestle previously attempted to overturn in an attempt to halt suits from individuals who worked in the African cocoa trade as children.

As Reuters reports, three former Malian child laborers, known as “John Does” in the case, “contend the companies aided and abetted human rights violations through their active involvement in purchasing cocoa from Ivory Coast. While aware of the child slavery problem, the companies offered financial and technical assistance to local farmers in a bid to guarantee the cheapest source of cocoa, the plaintiffs said.” West African nations are some of the largest exporters of cocoa, and though Nestle does not employ child slaves directly, the company consistently engages in business deals with farmers who do.

Though Americans are largely unaware of the sources of their chocolate, the use of child labor and slavery in African cocoa production has been public knowledge for many years. A 2000 documentary,Slavery: A Global Investigation, detailed the perilous conditions children face in West African nations. As Anti-Media summarized:    

Nineteen children freed from slavery near the Ivory Coast  — and their new guardian — detailed the staggering conditions of the cutthroat trade: the young children worked ‘from dawn until dusk every day’ and were forced to sleep in small sheds. They were given a tin cup in which to urinate. The children endured a six-month ‘breaking in’ process which included regular beatings. Sadly, they had difficulty understanding why they were not paid for their hard labor, which included carrying 100-pound bags of cocoa beans and, often, exposure to hazardous conditions.

When the story of the abused children garnered significant public attention, the candy companies claimed they were unaware of any such conditions.

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