International Rights Advocates, Inc., filed an injunctive relief and damages class-action lawsuit against

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Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

, Dell, and Tesla in December 2019. The plaintiff was representing fourteen Congolese parents and children seeking relief and damage fees for these companies aiding and abetting the use of young children in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC) cobalt mining industry. The plaintiff also pursued relief on the common law basis of negligent supervision, enrichment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In November 2021, a federal judge dismissed the suit, ruling, among other things, that there was no causal relationship between the companies and the individuals' injuries.

Background

Before the area became established as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it had a significant population which was seen as fertile ground utilized by slave traders. After the 19th century, industrialization began to boom, bringing in many who wanted to extract the natural resources in the area. In the late 1800s, King

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

claimed the area as personal property and levied forced labor through quotas set in place. Under King Leopold, the Congo faced a reign of terror which can be seen through many Congo memoirs left by civilians during his rule. From ivory to the rubber craze in the 1900s, any noncompliant civilian was punished. After its independence in 1960, The Democratic Republic of Congo was presented with leaders such as Mobutu Sese Seko (1949–1965), Laurent-Deisre Kabila (1997–2001), and Joseph Kabila (2001–2019) who all left the DRC in extremely impoverished conditions over time.

Democratic Republic of the Congo's global supply

The DRC is rich in natural resources such as

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, and most importantly,

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

. About seventy-five percent of the cobalt supply globally comes from the Katanga “

copperbelt The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining. Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...

.” This belt is a part of a world-class cobalt and copper deposit that stretches from northeastern Zambia all the way to the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt is a crucial component when it comes to rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are immensely valuable to companies like Tesla and Apple, who are acclaimed in the field of technology and electronics. According to the case filed by the International Rights Advocates group, all companies accused in the lawsuit were knowingly profiting and providing provision to the mining system in DRC.

Venue and jurisdiction

The Plaintiff in the case are bringing their case to the United States judicial district because DRC contains no law for them to seek reparation against cobalt consumers functioning outside of the DRC. The parties on the side of the Plaintiff would be compromising their safety due to the governmental conditions present in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Due to the human rights forum provided under the 2013

Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) is a federal statute passed into law in 2000 by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Clinton. The law was later reauthorized by presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump. In addit ...

. Due to the claimed damages made towards the Plaintiff taking place in the United States, they do not have the ability to contest their claims in the DRC.

Defendants responses

After the lawsuit was filed against these companies, the respondents moved forward by stating their company's ethics and code of conduct. Apple declined to respond or comment about the lawsuit allegations. Apple also told CNN Business that the company “remains deeply committed to the responsible sourcing of materials into our products.” Apple also shared their full list of cobalt refiners and stated that they do not purchase the cobalt from supply chains that do not meet their standards. They also mentioned the refiners they removed from their chains in 2019. Dell stated that they are “committed to the responsible sourcing of minerals” and upholding the human rights of workers. They also claimed that they have “never knowingly sourced operations using any form of involuntary labor, fraudulent recruiting practices or child labor.” Along with this statement, they claim to have eliminated supply chains if any transgression has been seen. Google has responded by saying that they have been working with industry and supply groups to eliminate the problem. Microsoft and Tesla did not comment on the allegations presented by the International Rights Advocates group. The defendants also claim to have “voluntary programs” to put a stop to the utilization of forced and child labor in their supply chains.

References

{{Tesla, Inc. Child labour Apple Inc. litigation Dell Microsoft litigation Tesla, Inc. Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo