Doe, et al. v. Nestlé USA, Inc./Cargill, Inc. (Amicus)
At a Glance
Date Filed:
October 21, 2020
Current Status
The Center for Constitutional Rights filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of international human rights organizations on October 21, 2020. The Court will hear oral argument on December 1, 2020.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Doe, et al. v. Nestlé USA, Inc. and the companion case Doe, et al. v. Cargill, Inc. to decide the question of whether U.S. corporations can be held liable under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and whether aiding and abetting human rights violations from U.S. territory can satisfy the "touch-and-concern" test established in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. The two U.S. corporations against which the case was brought, Nestlé USA and Cargill, are alleged to have contributed to a system of child slavery and forced labor in the Ivory Coast for decades. Plaintiffs are six people who were trafficked from Mali and formerly enslaved as children on cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast as part of this system. Our brief argues that the ATS must apply to U.S. corporations to remedy violations of international law, that international law recognizes aiding and abetting liability, and that to aid and abet violations from the United States that cause injury on foreign soil "touch[es] and concern[s]" the United States.
Center for Constitutional Rights and 14 other human rights organizations file brief as amicus curiae in support of formerly enslaved individuals; additional amicus briefs filed in support of respondents (plaintiffs)
October 21, 2020
Center for Constitutional Rights and 14 other human rights organizations file brief as amicus curiae in support of formerly enslaved individuals; additional amicus briefs filed in support of respondents (plaintiffs)
Six people who were trafficked from Mali as children and forced to work on cocoa plantations in Côte d'Ivoire file complaint against Nestlé USA, Inc., Cargill, Inc., and other corporations for complicity in forced labor and child slavery
July 14, 2005
Six people who were trafficked from Mali as children and forced to work on cocoa plantations in Côte d'Ivoire file complaint against Nestlé USA, Inc., Cargill, Inc., and other corporations for complicity in forced labor and child slavery