Litigation Risk Across Supply Chains: Court Allows Forced Labor Claims Against U.S. Tuna Company to Proceed
District court's denial of a motion to dismiss Indonesian fishers' Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act ("TVPRA") and California negligence claims—alleging that a U.S. company imported tuna harvested with forced labor into the United States and sold it to American consumers—underscores human rights-related risks arising from subsidiaries, suppliers, customers, and other business partners located abroad.
Indonesian fishers allege that U.S. tuna company, Bumble Bee, subjected them to forced labor on longline vessels that are part of Bumble Bee's "trusted fleet" for harvesting tuna, and then imported and sold that tuna in the United States. While the court dismissed plaintiffs' claim for injunctive relief, it allowed their claims under the TVPRA, Pub. L. No. 110-457, 122 Stat. 5044 (2008), and California negligence law to proceed.
The court rejected defendant's contention that plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege beneficiary liability under the TVPRA, pointing to allegations supporting: (i) the presence of forced labor on supplier vessels; (ii) Bumble Bee's knowing financial benefit from tuna sourced from those vessels; (iii) Bumble Bee's "participation in a venture" beyond ordinary buyer-seller transactions, including support through fishery improvement projects, certifications, audits, and monitoring; and (iv) Bumble Bee's knowledge or constructive knowledge of forced labor risks based on public reporting and its own social responsibility program. The court also allowed plaintiffs' negligence claim to proceed, finding that Bumble Bee owed a duty to the plaintiffs in light of its policy setting, monitoring, certification financing, and commercial leverage, which could reduce risk to fishers. The court rejected Bumble Bee's extraterritoriality defense, holding that the claims overcame the presumption against extraterritoriality and, in any event, that the TVPRA permits extraterritorial application with respect to the claims at issue.
This decision reflects a broader pattern of federal courts permitting claims related to alleged forced labor or human rights abuses in the supply chain to move past the pleading stage. Recent Ninth Circuit decisions have allowed similar claims to proceed, including against Cisco for alleged human rights violations under federal statutes and against Nestle for deceptive advertising related to forced labor. Beyond the Ninth Circuit, a Florida jury found Chiquita secondarily liable for deaths by a Colombian paramilitary group, awarding $38.3 million. More recently, a New York jury found an international bank liable under Swiss law for assisting the government of Sudan in committing human rights violations, resulting in a $20.75 million verdict. These developments highlight increasing litigation exposure for companies with global supply chains.
