Nestle defeats mislabeling claim of child slave labor

Nestle USA defeated a proposed consumer class action accusing it of deceptive labeling regarding child slave labor on cocoa farms.

Nestle USA's counsel from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP moved for dismissal last year, contending the named plaintiff never specified when, where or what product she claimed to have bought.

In his ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz of the Southern District of California agreed with the defense, acknowledging that while the plaintiff gave the court four photos of product packages bearing labels stating they were produced under sustainable fair trade conditions, "nowhere in the operative complaint does plaintiff identify the product she purchased."

Coast Law Group and Schonbrun Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP teamed up in 2019 to represent the lead plaintiff and the putative consumer class against Nestle USA in the Southern District of California. The complaint stated there were no sustainable environmental protocols in place in Nestle's cocoa supply chain, and the West African farms where Nestle gets its cocoa used child slave labor and harmful environmental practices. Walker et al. v. Nestle USA, 19-CV-0723 (S.D. Cal., filed April 19, 2019).

Lorenz gave the plaintiff a chance to amend the complaint by April 19.

-- Gina Kim