Slave Labor Used to Make Chocolate? Does the Business Need to Disclose that to Consumers?

In June 2018, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, interpreting California state law, held that sellers/manufacturers don’t have a duty to tell consumers about illegal or immoral labor practices used in making the product being sold. Hodson v. Mars, Inc., (No. 16-15444)(9th Cir.). The Court says it requires a “physical defect” that “affects the central function” of the product. The Court did not try to reconcile its prior decision requiring a “safety” defect, Wilson v. Hewlett Packard Co., 668 F.3d 1136, 1141 (9th Cir. 2012). California state decisions that have interpreted the duty to disclose more broadly. (See Collins v. eMachines, Inc. 202 Cal.App.4th 249 (2011); Rutledge v. Hewlett-Packard Co. 238 Cal.App.4th 1164(2015).)