By Ben Glickman


An appeals court on Tuesday backed five tech giants in a case that sought to hold them accountable for benefiting from forced labor.

The plaintiffs alleged that Apple, Google-owner Alphabet, Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla had violated U.S. law by purchasing cobalt from suppliers who used forced labor and sought damages.

Two-thirds of the world's cobalt, which is essential for making lithium-ion batteries, comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The court's opinion said that many of this mining is informally conducted by Congolese people, some of whom are children.

The D.C. court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from the plaintiffs, ruling that the companies were not liable. The plaintiffs were unnamed former cobalt miners injured in mining accidents and their representatives.

The court said that while the plaintiffs had standing to pursue damage claims, they had not stated a claim for relief. The tech companies had not participated in the venture using forced labor by purchasing cobalt through the global supply chain, the court said in the ruling.

The plaintiffs had sought damages under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which makes it illegal to participate in a venture that uses forced labor.


Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-05-24 1433ET