In the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, children as young as six are forced to work in precarious, hand‑dug mines that reach depths of 30 metres. These youngsters extract cobalt‑laden rock, haul it to the surface and sell it to local middlemen. The ore is then funneled to subsidiaries of five major American technology firms.
On 15 December 2019, a federal class‑action lawsuit was lodged in Washington, naming Apple, Dell, Google, Microsoft and Tesla as defendants. The complaint, brought by the human‑rights organization International Rights Advocates, relies on the Trafficking Victims Protection Reimbursement Act of 2008, which permits foreign nationals to sue U.S. companies that profit from forced labor.
The filing seeks monetary damages and the creation of a medical fund for 14 Congolese families whose children were killed or maimed while mining the cobalt that powers U.S. laptops, smartphones and electric vehicles. According to the 79‑page complaint, at least six children died in tunnel collapses between 2014 and 2019, while others suffered paralysis or loss of limbs from accidents or the burden of heavy loads. Workers earned only two to three dollars a day and were provided with no protective equipment.
Lead counsel Terry Collingsworth argued that the defendants possessed “specific knowledge” that their cobalt supply chains relied on inexpensive child labor, yet they continued to place larger orders. “These children were sacrificed so Americans could have cheaper phones and ‘green’ cars,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.
Cobalt is a critical component of lithium‑ion batteries, which are indispensable for virtually every portable electronic device sold in the United States. More than two‑thirds of the world’s cobalt is mined in the DRC, making it a linchpin of the global tech supply chain. Without it, products such as iPhones, MacBooks, Pixel phones, Surface tablets and Tesla Model S vehicles could not function.
Although the lawsuit specifically names five corporations, the complaint’s reasoning extends to the broader industry. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reimbursement Act, plaintiffs need not prove that a company directly ordered child labor; they must show that the company profited from forced labor while knowing—or reasonably should have known—about it. The filing cites years of reporting by human‑rights groups, investigative journalism and shareholder resolutions to demonstrate that the defendants were aware of the conditions.
The complaint paints a grim picture: boys descend into unbraced shafts that can collapse without warning, their bodies buried and families left with nothing. The extracted cobalt is then refined, shipped and incorporated into batteries that power the defendants’ products.
The case remains in its early stages, with no trial date set. Nonetheless, the filing represents a direct legal challenge to a business model that has long been scrutinized for its reliance on hazardous child labor. The central legal question is how much a company must know before it can be held liable for deaths occurring within its supply chain.
The families are not demanding an end to mining in the DRC; they are seeking compensation for medical care and damages for the loss of their children. They do not ask the companies to cease purchasing cobalt, but rather to bear the costs of a system that operates on wages of two to three dollars a day, without safety gear, in tunnels that have already claimed lives.
The lawsuit names the corporations and identifies the children involved. The court will now determine whether the defendants’ alleged knowledge and continued procurement of cobalt render them financially responsible for the tragedies linked to their products.
