Tech firms were sued for forcing child laborers to work in mines

Ars Technica

Apple and other major tech companies don’t have to compensate victims of forced child labor that provided cobalt for the lithium-ion batteries used in many electronic devices, a US appeals court ruled.
A US District Court previously dismissed the lawsuit, and a panel of three appeals court judges unanimously affirmed the dismissal yesterday.
include four former miners, seven legal representatives of former miners who are still children, and five representatives of child laborers who were killed in cobalt mining operations, the ruling said.
“The forced labor was organized or overseen by agents or subsidiaries of the Tech Companies’ cobalt suppliers,” judges wrote.
Buying cobalt doesn’t create a “venture”Companies such as Glencore, Huayou, and Eurasian Resources Group obtain cobalt from subsidiaries in the DRC.
Huayou sells processed cobalt to Apple, Dell, and Microsoft, and Eurasian Resources owns a mine from which it sells cobalt to Tesla.
“Other miners were told that if they did not continue working in the mines, they would be blacklisted and barred from working at any other mines in the region.”
In a brief, tech companies said the lawsuit targeted “five purchasers of refined cobalt far removed from the labor abuses allegedly occurring at cobalt mines.”
They sought financial damages, injunctive relief, and other remedies on behalf of themselves and “a class of similarly situated child miners in the DRC.”
Appeals court judges ruled that the plaintiffs have standing to pursue damages claims for injuries and deaths, but they didn’t agree with plaintiffs that the US tech companies are liable:

A US appeals court decided that Apple and other large tech companies are exempt from having to pay compensation to victims of forced child labor that produced cobalt for the lithium-ion batteries used in many electronic devices. In their lawsuit, former Democratic Republic of the Congolese miners claimed that Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla had broken a law against human trafficking that forbids involvement in “ventures” that use forced labor.

In its ruling yesterday, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit noted, “The plaintiffs allege the technology companies participated in a venture with their cobalt suppliers by purchasing the metal through the global supply chain.”.

The lawsuit was previously dismissed by a US District Court, and yesterday, a panel of three judges from an appeals court unanimously upheld that decision. “Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008] does not define ‘participation in a venture’ as purchasing an unspecified quantity of cobalt through the global supply chain,” the ruling stated. We uphold the district court’s decision to dismiss the complaint as a result. ****.

As plaintiffs in John Doe 1, et al. versus. Apple Inc. along with others. encompass four ex-miners, seven guardians of deceased miners who are still minors, and five proxies of child laborers murdered in cobalt mining operations, the verdict stated. According to the ruling, the miners were “recruited as children to engage in dangerous mining operations and suffered falls, collapses of tunnels, and other accidents that left them disfigured, paralyzed, or worse.”.

“Agents or subsidiaries of the Tech Companies’ cobalt suppliers organized or oversaw the forced labor,” the judges wrote. In spite of hazardous and abusive working conditions, the plaintiffs claim they “began mining at a young age to avoid starvation and to support their families,” and they were under pressure to stay in the mines.

It is not a “venture” to purchase cobalt.

Companies with DRC-based subsidiaries include Glencore, Huayou, and Eurasian Resources Group. Umicore purchases cobalt from Glencore and uses it to “refine the cobalt and sell it to Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft, as well as to intermediaries that in turn sell to Dell and Tesla,” according to the ruling. Huayou provides processed cobalt to companies like Apple, Dell, and Microsoft, while Eurasian Resources mines cobalt and sells it to companies like Tesla.

Promoting something.

The ruling stated, “Several plaintiffs insist they were trapped in a ‘debt bondage situation’ where’sponsors’ gave out food and funds as an advance but deducted the amount of the advance, along with other costs, from the plaintiffs’ earnings when the cobalt was sold.”. “Other miners were warned that they would be blacklisted and unable to work at any other mines in the area if they did not continue working in the mines.”. “.

In a succinct statement, tech companies stated that “five buyers of refined cobalt far removed from the alleged labor abuses occurring at cobalt mines” were the target of the lawsuit. The brief claimed that the accused “have established policies and due-diligence practices to eradicate child labor in the international network of their suppliers” and that it was not possible to reasonably link any of the alleged injuries to the defendants’ actions.

The global cobalt supply chain, according to plaintiffs, is a “venture” under US law, and tech companies “participated in that venture with the full knowledge that cobalt suppliers and their subsidiary mining companies employed and trafficked in forced labor,” the ruling stated. On behalf of themselves and “a class of similarly situated child miners in the DRC,” they requested monetary damages, injunctive relief, and other remedies. ****.

Judges on the appeals court determined that plaintiffs had the right to file claims for damages for fatalities and injuries, but they rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that US tech companies should be held accountable.

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