Nestle, Hershey Class Action Child Slavery Lawsuit Dismissed

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A California federal judge dismissed two class actions against Nestle USA Inc. and Hershey Co. alleging that the companies should disclose on their packaging that their cocoa beans are harvested by child slaves. A similar class action against Mars Inc. was dismissed by another judge in February of this year.

Lead plaintiffs in the class actions alleged in their complaints that the chocolate companies should inform consumers that they used illegal labor practices to harvest cocoa beans for their products.

The plaintiffs claimed that they and other consumers would not have bought the products if they had known that Mars, Hershey, and Nestle used cocoa beans harvested off the Ivory Coast, an area known for using illegal child slave labor. The Nestle, Hershey class action lawsuits claimed that the chocolate companies should have included disclosures on candy labels.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero and U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed all three of the class actions finding that while the use of cocoa beans from areas that employ slave labor is an ethical question for the companies, the law does not require a disclosure on their product labels.

“The fact that major international corporations source ingredients for their products from supply chains involving slavery and the worst forms of child labor raises significant ethical questions,” wrote Judge Spero in his orders dismissing claims against Hersey and Nestle. “Rather, the issue before the court is whether California law requires corporations to inform consumers about something like a supplier’s child slave labor on product packaging.”

Judge Spero pointed out in his orders that the plaintiffs did not allege that the chocolate companies failed to disclose information that may have presented a danger to consumers. This may have required disclosure under California law; however, ethical concerns are not covered under the law and an ethical question was not posed to the court, concluded the judge.

In sum, both judges ruled that Mars, Hershey, and Nestle are not required to disclose information about the potential use of illegal labor practices in their supply chain on candy packaging under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law.

According to the plaintiffs’ complaint, a study conducted by Tulane researchers discovered that thousands of children are forced to work on cocoa plantations off the Ivory Coast where Nestle, Hershey, and Mars source much of the cocoa beans used to make their candy products.

The plaintiffs in all three class action lawsuits are represented by Steve W. Berman, Ashley A. Bede, Elaine T. Byszewski and Christopher R. Pitoun of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The Mars, Nestle, and Hershey Child Slavery Class Action Lawsuits are Robert Hodson, et al. v. Mars Inc., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-04450; Elaine McCoy, et al. v. Nestle USA Inc., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-04451; and Laura Dana, et al. v. The Hershey Co., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-04453, all in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.