Cargill, Inc. v. Doe I

Questions presented

SCOTUS records, cert granted 2 Jul 2020

1. Petitioner Cargill, Incorporated, purchases cocoa beans grown in Cote d'Ivoire. Respondents are Malian citizens who allege that, when Respondents were under the age of fourteen, Ivorian cocoa farmers subjected them to forced labor and other abuses in violation of international law. Respondents filed this putative class action under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, claiming that Cargill aided and abetted the farmers' violations of international law by purchasing cocoa from and providing financial assistance to Ivorian cocoa farmers. The questions presented are:
2. Whether the presumption against extraterritorial application of the Alien Tort Statute is displaced by allegations that a U.S. company generally conducted oversight of its foreign operations at its headquarters and made operational and financial decisions there, even though the conduct alleged to violate international law occurred in-and the plaintiffs' suffered their injuries in-a foreign country.
3. Whether a domestic corporation is subject to liability in a private action under the Alien Tort Statute.

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

The case involved allegations against Cargill, Inc. and other companies for their involvement in child labor practices on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast. The plaintiffs, former child slaves from Mali, claimed that these corporations aided and abetted human rights abuses by maintaining a supply chain that relied on forced labor. They argued this violated the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), which allows foreign nationals to seek remedies in U.S. courts for international law violations. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the plaintiffs, holding that domestic corporations could not be held liable under ATS for actions occurring outside of U.S territory unless there was a significant connection to American interests or conduct within its borders.