Hershey, Nestle, other cocoa companies defeat appeal of child slavery lawsuit

(Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a proposed class action by eight Malian citizens who sought to hold Hershey, Nestle and five other companies liable for child labor on Ivory Coast cocoa farms. In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found no causal connection between the plaintiffs' forced labor and the defendants' alleged venture to obtain "cheap cocoa harvested by enslaved children." The plaintiffs said they were required to live in squalor and threatened with starvation if they did not work, after being approached by unfamiliar men who falsely promised paying jobs.