The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine have disrupted supply chains and heightened the need for supply chain due diligence to ensure business continuity and sustainability. Coupled with these events are...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has allocated $22 million to target the growing issue of abusive labor practices in the fashion industry, and specifically, to combat the use of child and forced labor in supply chains,...more
Matt Friedman is an expert on modern slavery in corporate supply chains and corporate best practices. He is the president and founder of the Mekong Club in Hong Kong which is a leader in uniting and mobilizing the private...more
As this space has addressed before, the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act (Civ. Code section 1714.43), enacted in 2010, requires large retailers and manufacturers (those with worldwide sales in excess of $100...more
In 2010, California enacted the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (the “Act”). The goal of the Act is to curtail human trafficking and slavery by requiring certain manufacturers and retailers doing business in...more
[Warning: The juxtaposition of the jolly old man and forced labor is not to make light of human rights violations but to highlight the hidden evils in supply chains and the potential reputational damage to wholesome brands.] ...more
The holiday retail season is an ideal time to check that forced labor and bribery—two top and interconnected supply-chain threats—do not undermine the success of your critical sales period. Not long ago, many in the...more
Last January, I wrote about one plaintiff’s unsuccessful attempt to pursue claims against the maker of Fancy Feast cat food for failure to disclose the alleged use of forced labor. Barber v. Nestlé USA, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist....more
We recently blogged about a new wave of class action litigation related to California’s Transparency in Supply Chains Act. In December, Nestlé USA won the dismissal of a complaint against it alleging that the company was...more
Companies are increasingly being required to disclose how they assess and respond to the risks of human trafficking in their product supply chains. Statutes like the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act and the U.K....more
Passed in 2010, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act has a worthy aim: requiring retailers and manufacturers doing big business in California to disclose what measures, if any, they are taking to ensure their...more
It’s Friday and time for our latest overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring. This week’s post includes notice of several new lawsuits regarding human rights concerns...more
Recent class actions have claimed that companies have violated California consumer fraud and unfair competition laws resulting from alleged forced labor in their global supply chains. These state law claims argue that...more
Companies that do business in the United Kingdom should assess their exposure to the U.K. Modern Slavery Act, which goes into effect this October. The transparency provisions of the Act are applicable to companies that do any...more
As discussed in this Bloomberg article, Costco and some of its suppliers are facing class action litigation alleging that Costco misled consumers about the use of slave labor and human trafficking in its supply chain for the...more
Companies doing business in the United Kingdom take note: the U.K. government just made the not-so-long-awaited announcement that businesses with an annual turnover of 36 million British pounds (£36M) will be subject to the...more
In late July, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3226, the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015. The bill, if passed, would require companies to file annual reports with...more
On July 27, 2015, U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) introduced the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015 (H.R. 3226) (the "Bill"). The Bill would require...more
The United Kingdom recently enacted the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the first law in Europe aimed at eliminating modern slavery and human trafficking from supply chains. The Act is anticipated to take effect in October 2015....more
The State of California has recently stepped up enforcement of the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2012. The California Department of Justice has also issued new guidance on...more
The California Attorney General has kicked off a campaign to ensure that companies are complying with their obligations under the state’s Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010. On April 1, 2015, the AG’s office sent...more
As of last year, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act requires qualifying businesses to disclose their efforts to eradicate human trafficking and slavery from their direct supply chains. ...more
In a landmark speech to the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2012, President Barack Obama declared that the “fight against human trafficking is one of the great human rights causes of our time” and that “our global...more
As discussed in this post, I had petitioned the Office of Administrative Law for a determination that the Statement of Investment Policy for External Investment Resource Conflict of Interest adopted by the California Public...more
Two years ago, in October 2010, I published a post, Human Rights Due Diligence and the Corporate Lawyer, that addressed the need for corporate counsel to assess stakeholder expectations that companies should be accountable...more