A US federal appeals court refused to hold five major technology companies liable over their alleged support for the use of child labour in cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In a 3-0 decision, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on March 5 ruled in favour of Google parent Alphabet, Apple, Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla, rejecting an appeal by former child miners and their representatives.
The plaintiffs accused the five companies of joining suppliers in a “forced labour” venture by purchasing cobalt, which is incorporated in lithium-ion batteries widely used in electronics. Almost two-thirds of the world’s cobalt comes from the DRC.
According to the complaint, the companies “deliberately obscured” their dependence on child labour, including many children pressured into work by hunger and extreme poverty, to ensure their growing need for the metal would be met.
The 16 plaintiffs included representatives of five children who were killed in cobalt-mining operations.
The appeals court said buying cobalt in the global supply chain did not amount to “participation in a venture” under a federal law protecting children and other victims of human trafficking and forced labour.
Circuit Judge Neomi Rao said the plaintiffs had legal standing to seek damages but did not show the five companies had anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with suppliers, or that they had the power to stop the use of child labour.
She added that many other parties were responsible for labour trafficking, including labour brokers, other cobalt consumers and the DRC Government.
“Without more specific allegations, the question is whether the tech companies‘ purchasing an unspecified amount of cobalt from a supply chain originating in DRC mines plausibly demonstrates ‘participation in a venture’ with anyone engaged in forced labour in that supply chain,” Rao wrote.
“We hold that it does not.”
Terry Collingsworth, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said his clients may appeal further and file new lawsuits if the companies‘ conduct met the court‘s test.
The legal decision provides “a strong incentive to avoid any transparency with their suppliers, even as they promise the public they have ‘zero tolerance’ policies against child labour,” he said.
“We are far from finished seeking accountability.”
Dell said it was committed to upholding the human rights of workers throughout its supply chain and had never knowingly sourced products made using child labour.
Google had no immediate comment. Apple, Microsoft, Tesla and their respective lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
The decision on March 5 upheld a November 2021 dismissal by US District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington.
The cobalt suppliers included Eurasian Resources Group, Glencore, Umicore and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, court papers show. None were named as defendants.
The case is Doe 1 et al v Apple Inc et al, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-7135.
Around 40,000 children work in Cobalt mines in Congo 🇨🇩 with bare foot
and get paid less than 2$ a day. 💔😥 pic.twitter.com/bQCjQRWedT— Zoom Afrika (@zoomafrika1) February 29, 2024
