Hershey, Nestle, Mars escape liability in child slavery case, court rules
In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found no causal connection between the plaintiffs' forced labor and the defendants' alleged venture to obtain "cheap cocoa harvested by enslaved children."
The plaintiffs said they were required to live in squalor and threatened with starvation if they did not work, after being approached by unfamiliar men who falsely promised paying jobs.
They sued under a federal law protecting children and other victims of human trafficking and forced labor.
Circuit Judge Justin Walker, however, said the plaintiffs alleged at most they worked in areas that supplied cocoa to the defendants, which buy an estimated 70% of Ivorian cocoa, rather than specific farms that supplied the cocoa.
"Is there a 'possibility' that at least some of the importers sourced cocoa from those farms? Yes," Walker wrote. "But is it 'plausible'? Not on this complaint."
Other defendants included privately-held Cargill, privately-held Mars, Mondelez International MDLZ.O, Barry Callebaut BARN.S and Olam International.
Mali and the Ivory Coast share a border in West Africa. A trial judge ruled for the defendants in June 2022.
Terry Collingsworth, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said his clients were "extremely disappointed" and considering their legal options.
"The court rewarded the chocolate multinational defendants ... for concealing their cocoa supply chains, such that former child slaves are unable to link a specific company to the Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) farms where they were enslaved," he said.
In March 2024, the same court dismissed a similar lawsuit seeking to hold five major technology companies including Apple AAPL.O and Tesla TSLA.O liable for child labor in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Collingsworth represented the plaintiffs in the cobalt case.
The case is Coubaly et al v Cargill Inc et al, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 22-7104.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Alexandra Hudson
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USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
What whistleblowers said about just-confirmed Trump appeals court judge Emil Bove
Emil Bove, President Donald Trump's Senate-confirmed pick to a prestigious judicial role, overcame accusations of misconduct at the Justice Department. Here's what whistleblowers and Bove said. The U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Emil Bove, President Donald Trump's controversial pick for a prestigious judicial role, in a 50-49 vote late July 29, dismissing multiple whistleblower complaints about Bove's conduct as a top Justice Department official. The vote unfolded almost entirely along party lines. Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joined all of the Senate's Democrats in opposition. Bove is now set to be sworn in to his new role on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which handles federal appeals for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. 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Gates McGavick, a department spokesperson, responded in the Washington Post's July 28 story that Bove has done "incredible work at the Department of Justice" and was going to be "an excellent judge." Justice Connection, an organization composed of Justice Department alumni concerned that their former colleagues are under attack in the Trump administration, put out a statement that was short on specifics, but said the whistleblower "has strong evidence that Emil Bove was not truthful" during his confirmation hearing. The whistleblower tried to share the information with Republican senators for weeks, according to the statement. Contributing: Erin Mansfield and Bart Jansen – USA TODAY; Reuters
Atlantic
2 days ago
- Atlantic
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Bove continued to establish himself as Trump's hatchet man, the avatar of a new order under which the Justice Department's guiding star was not even-handed enforcement of the law but immediate assent to whatever Trump said. In February, Bove forced his old office in the Southern District to end the corruption prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for Adams's assistance with immigration roundups. This was so jaw-droppingly inappropriate that it ultimately led 10 department lawyers, including the acting head of the Southern District, to resign rather than carry out the order. The judge in the case reluctantly acknowledged that his only choice was to dismiss the charges, but he did so in a manner that blocked the government from dangling a future prosecution over Adams's head, decrying the apparent scheme as ' grave betrayal of the public trust. ' Trump, however, was pleased. He announced Bove's nomination to the federal bench on May 28, in a Truth Social post. 'He will end the Weaponization of Justice,' the president wrote of the new nominee. 'Emil Bove will never let you down!' Shortly afterward, whistleblower testimony surfaced from yet another fired Justice Department lawyer who alleged that Bove had played a significant role in encouraging the government to defy court orders in multiple immigration cases. According to the whistleblower, Erez Reuveni, Bove was a key driver behind the government's decision to send Venezuelans to a Salvadoran prison under the Alien Enemies Act despite a court ordering it not to. At his confirmation hearing on June 25, when he was asked directly whether he had suggested potentially defying the court, Bove did not quite deny the allegations. Instead, he said he had 'conveyed the importance' of the flight to El Salvador and did not recall the specifics of which words he used. In the days before the confirmation vote, another whistleblower announced that they had alerted the Senate Judiciary Committee of additional information corroborating Reuveni's report. News also broke of a third whistleblower who had attempted to warn Republican senators that Bove had lied in his confirmation hearing concerning his role in tossing out the Adams prosecution. Bove's nomination produced a flood of opposition. More than 80 retired judges and more than 900 former Justice Department lawyers signed letters urging the Senate to reject his appointment. 'It is intolerable to us that anyone who disgraces the Justice Department would be promoted to one of the highest courts in the land,' the former government attorneys wrote. Even the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board voiced concern. Other prominent supporters of Trump's first-term efforts to shift the courts to the right dissented as well. 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With the administration pushing to appoint as many judges as possible to reshape the federal bench, affiliation with the conservative legal movement was the smart play for up-and-coming attorneys dreaming of a judicial appointment. Now, though, the alliance between the president and the movement is splintering, as some of the administration's tactics prove too much even for judges on the right. In May, after a panel of three judges—including one whom Trump himself had appointed during his first term—blocked tariffs from going into effect, Trump raged against Leo and the Federalist Society. Leo, the president wrote on Truth Social, was a 'bad person' and a 'sleazebag.' From the January/February 2024 issue: A MAGA judiciary Trump's alignment with legal conservatives was never entirely stable. In the long term, Trump couldn't accept an equal partnership with a community whose primary fealty is to a system of reasoning that does not orbit entirely around his whims. Although many Trump-appointed judges are all too willing to go along with his plans, every exception is, to Trump, a personal insult. Still, even as cracks showed between Trump and Leo, there was always the question of where Trump would find his next batch of judges. Now we have an answer: enforcers like Bove. The newest member of the Third Circuit does not appear to have been an ideologue. Instead, his résumé suggests an ambitious lawyer who was looking to get ahead. When he had a chance to distinguish himself by pushing hard on investigating January 6, he did that. When the winds changed, he changed with them. What is striking about Bove is just how normal he once was, and how normal his path to the bench may soon come to seem.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Second rescue in week involving West Highland Way walker injured in fall
A walker has been injured after falling down a steep drop along the West Highland Way. The incident happened on Saturday near I Vow island on the east side of Loch Lomond on Saturday. Loch Lomond Rescue Boat (LLRB) said it was paged by Police Scotland to reports of a male walker on the West Highland Way who had fallen from a height sustaining injuries and requiring medical assistance. Once on scene, the LLRB crew began assessing the casualty and treating wounds before moving the casualty onto the boat and transferring over to Inveruglas, where the patient was handed over to Scottish Ambulance Service for further treatment. READ MORE: Two walkers seriously injured after West Highland Way fall 'Disruptive' passenger arrested on Glasgow flight as police appeal for phone footage Police involved in car chase through Scots city as two arrested over drug offences LLRB added: "We would like to thank Arrochar Mountain Rescue for being on standby. Crew stood down at 20:30hrs and returned to base." The rescue operation was the second in a week involving walkers undertaking the West Highland Way. On Tuesday of last week, two walkers were seriously injured after falling from height onto rocks at the same location - near I Vow island on the east side of Loch Lomond. First aid was administered on scene, and both individuals were stretchered to the boat before being transferred to waiting ambulances in Inveruglas.
