Allegations of child slavery linger for Cargill

Minnetonka-based Cargill is asking a federal court to overrule a court decision that links the firm to child slavery on cocoa farms overseas.

Cargill was among the defendants in a 2010 lawsuit from three men who said they were abducted as children and forced to work on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, where much of the cocoa bought by Cargill is produced.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that Cargill and other firms may have tolerated abusive work conditions, including child slavery, in order to keep costs low.

Cargill and the other firms named in the suit don't own any of the farms. Cargill officials argue that the decision confuses the law. The company has a cocoa sustainability program that trains farmers and works with local governments to address child labor claims.

MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Oren Gross, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, about the case. Gross said the basis for the lawsuits is a 1789 statute gave district courts jurisdiction over those who violate U.S. law or treaties.

That law has been used to sue corporations since the 1990s, Gross said, under the claim that particular corporations violated international law. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that these sort of lawsuits apply only very narrowly, but that courts haven't settled cases where American corporations are involved.

"The question that is left is what happens if we have for example, an action or involvement in human rights violations that takes place not exclusively, for example, in a foreign territory," Gross said.

Click on the audio link above to hear more of the conversation.

Interview edited and transcribed by MPR reporter Jon Collins.