LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Class action lawyers are combing through old versions of Starbucks’ website to prove their claims the company misleads customers into thinking it cares about where it cocoa comes from.
The case against Starbucks is one in a group of similar lawsuits that says companies that use cocoa harvested in West Africa by means of child and slave labor are faking their interest in buying cocoa that is ethically sourced.
Using software called Wayback Machine, which provides a digital archive of internet sites, plaintiffs lawyers say they have proof Starbucks made representations that its goal was to purchase cocoa that was not the product of child or slave labor.
“These exhibits are all relevant to the determination of Defendant’s motion to dismiss as they serve to demonstrate that child and slave labor existed in Starbucks’ cocoa supply chain and its cocoa was not 100% ethically sourced, despite its product label stating it was,” wrote Helen Zeldes, of Schonbrun Seplow, on Dec. 4.
Plaintiffs lawyers included a handful of screen shots, a few of which said Starbucks’ goal was to have 100% ethically sourced cocoa by 2020.
Mars Wrigley, Starbucks and Quaker Oats filed their latest round of motions to dismiss on Sept. 4 in a lawsuit that has already been rejected once by Judge Cormac Carney.
On July 29, Carney granted previous motions to dismiss but allowed class action lawyers 14 days to attempt to fix their problems with an amended complaint.
They tried but failed, according to the defendants.
“Plaintiff continues to improperly refer to the labor issues that generally plague the cocoa industry and West Africa region, but offers no facts specific as to Starbucks,” the company’s lawyers wrote.
“Unable to explain why the cocoa farm audits conducted through a third party are a ‘sham,’ Plaintiff deleted the allegations and replaced them with a new conclusory statement, ‘these farm audits and verifications are unreliable.’
“Lacking specific information as to Starbucks and asserting that only 20% of cocoa grown in the region is traceable, Plaintiff’s case is based on the possibility that Starbucks might have sourced its cocoa for the Hot Cocoa Mix from forced or child labor.”
Lori Myers’ lawsuit says the companies put labels on their products that would lead customers to believing the chocolate is produced ethically despite a history of child and slave labor and deforestation in the harvesting of cocoa in West Africa.
The complaint also took issue with the Mars relying on the Rainforest Alliance to help it find cocoa harvested ethically. On Dove dark chocolate bars, Mars puts “We buy cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, traceable from the farms into our factory.”
“Mars’ packaging simply does not make any claims about the labor practices of its suppliers or the scope of the Rainforest Alliance program,” Carney wrote.
Carney said he will consider these new screenshots provided by plaintiffs lawyers, over Starbucks’ objection.
“(E)ven if the Court were to consider the web pages, Plaintiff has alleged that she is not relying on them for her claims in this action, and Plaintiff still lacks facts showing that the supply chain used for the Hot Cocoa Mix she purchased was not ethically sourced,” attorneys for the company wrote.