throbber
Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 1 of 79
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`TERRENCE COLLINGSWORTH
`(DC Bar # 471830)
`International Rights Advocates
`621 Maryland Ave NE
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`Washington, D.C. 20002
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`Tel: 202-543-5811
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`E-mail: tc@iradvocates.org
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`Counsel for Plaintiffs
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
`________________
`JANE DOE 1, Individually and on
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`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
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`JOHN DOE 1, Individually and on
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`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
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`JOHN DOE 2, Individually and on
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`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
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`JENNA ROE 3, Individually and on
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`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
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`JAMES DOE 4, Individually and on
`Case No. CV:
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
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`JOHN DOE 5, Individually and on
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`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
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`JENNA DOE 6, Individually and on
`CLASS COMPLAINT FOR
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
`INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AND
`JANE DOE 2, Individually and on
`DAMAGES
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
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`JENNA DOE 7, Individually and on
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`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`JENNA DOE 8, Individually and on
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
`JOHN DOE 9, Individually and on
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
`JENNA DOE 10, Individually and on
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
`JENNA DOE 11, Individually and on
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
`JANE DOE 3, Individually and on
`behalf of Proposed Class Members;
`JOHN DOE 12, Individually and on
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 2 of 79
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`behalf of Proposed Class Members; and
`JOHN DOE 13, Individually and on
`behalf of Proposed Class Members; all
`Plaintiffs C/O 621 Maryland Ave. NE,
`Washington, D.C. 20002
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`Plaintiffs,
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`v.
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`APPLE INC. 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino,
`CA 95014; ALPHABET, INC. 1600
`Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View,
`California 94043; MICROSOFT, INC., 1
`Microsoft Way, Redmond WA 98052;
`DELL TECHNOLOGIES, INC., 1 Dell
`Way, Round Rock, TX 78682; and
`TESLA, INC., 3500 Deer Creek Rd,
`Palo Alto, CA 94304.
`
`
`Defendants.
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`
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`
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`I. NATURE OF THE ACTION
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`1.
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`Defendants Apple Inc. (“Apple”), Alphabet, Inc. (“Alphabet”)(which is
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`the parent company of Google LLC)(“Google”), Dell Technologies Inc. (“Dell”),
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`Microsoft Inc. (“Microsoft”), and Tesla Inc. (“Tesla”) are knowingly benefiting
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`from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children in
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`Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) to mine cobalt, a key component of
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`every rechargeable lithium-ion battery used in the electronic devices these
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`companies manufacture. The young children mining Defendants’ cobalt are not
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`merely being forced to work full-time, extremely dangerous mining jobs at the
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`2
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 3 of 79
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`expense their educations and futures; they are being regularly maimed and killed by
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`tunnel collapses and other known hazards common to cobalt mining in the DRC.
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`The following photo is of Plaintiff John Doe 5’s crushed legs. He was mining
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`cobalt in a tunnel with no supports for Congo Dongfang Mining, which is part of
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`Huayou Cobalt, which sells cobalt to Defendants Apple and Microsoft. He is
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`typical of the young men maimed by cobalt mining in the DRC, where production
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`has soared under extremely primitive conditions to meet the demand for cobalt
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`caused by the tech boom led by Defendants.
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`Plaintiff John Doe 5’s crushed legs
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`2.
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`Defendants Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla are merely the
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`latest to join the list of rapacious exploiters that have given the DRC a particularly
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`horrific history of being pillaged and plundered and its people brutalized and
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`3
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 4 of 79
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`exploited. The area that is now the DRC had a relatively large population and was
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`fertile ground for the slave traders. Estimates are that between the 16th and 19th
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`centuries, several million slaves were taken from the Congo basin alone. In the mid-
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`19th century, when slavery was finally made illegal in most of the world, the Congo
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`received a brief respite. However, as industrialization began in earnest, a new breed
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`of greedy exploiters returned to Africa to brutalize and enslave people in their home
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`countries to extract natural resources. In the late 1880’s, King Leopold II of Belgium
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`seized the Congo as his personal private property in his bid to be a colonial power.
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`While purporting to bring Christianity and civilization to the “Congo Free State”,
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`he instead deployed a brutal private army to impose a system of forced labor through
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`strict quotas to compel villagers to deliver ivory to his collectors. Then, the rubber
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`craze hit and, unfortunately for the people of the Congo, the forests of the Congo
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`grew natural rubber trees. Leopold imposed a second brutal quota system on
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`villagers to harvest raw latex to make rubber. Villages that did not cooperate were
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`destroyed and noncompliant workers were punished with amputation by machete
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`or execution. The horrors of this period are graphically depicted in Adam
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`Hochschild’s book, King Leopold’s Ghost, as well as in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of
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`Darkness.
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`3.
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`Shortly before Leopold’s death in 1909 he sold the Congo Free State to
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`the Belgian state, a transaction that merely changed the beneficiaries of the brutal
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`exploitation of the people and resources of the Congo. When Independence finally
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`4
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 5 of 79
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`came to the DRC1 in 1960, the people then suffered through some of the most
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`corrupt leaders imaginable. In succession, Mobutu Sese Seko, Laurent-Désiré
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`Kabila, and Joseph Kabila, each stole more than the last while the people of the
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`DRC lived in extreme poverty.
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`4.
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`The modern tech boom brought on a new wave of brutal exploitation to
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`the people of the DRC. The DRC is particularly rich in many minerals needed for
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`the manufacture of the various products made by Defendants Apple, Alphabet, Dell,
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`Microsoft, and Tesla. The DRC is rich in tin, copper, tungsten, gold, and tantalum,
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`but these minerals are widely available in other places. On the other hand,
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`approximately two-thirds of the global supply of cobalt is mined in the “copper belt”
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`region of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba Provinces in the DRC. Cobalt is a key
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`component of every rechargeable lithium-ion battery in all of the gadgets made by
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`Defendants and all other tech and electric car companies in the world,2 that has
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`brought on the latest wave of cruel exploitation fueled by greed, corruption and
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`indifference to a population of powerless, starving Congolese people.
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`5.
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`The Plaintiffs here are a representative group of children who were forced
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`by extreme poverty to leave school and pursue the only economic option in their
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`1 The country was first called the Republic of Congo, then the DRC, then Zaire, then back to the
`present name of DRC.
`2 Plaintiffs have brought suit against a first group of companies, Defendants Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.,
`Dell Inc., Microsoft Inc., and Tesla, based on a number of factors. Plaintiffs are conducting additional
`research and expect to add others using cobalt from the DRC that is mined by young children
`performing hazardous work and facing extreme danger.
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`5
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 6 of 79
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`region of the DRC -- become “artisanal” cobalt miners. They are officially referred
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`to as “artisanal” miners to dress up the fact that this means they are working in a
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`large informal sector of people, including young children, who go to the areas where
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`cobalt is found and use primitive tools to dig and tunnel for cobalt without any
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`safety equipment and without any structural support for the tunnels. Major tunnel
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`collapses are common. Miners are regularly maimed or killed when a tunnel
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`collapses, and frequently, the bodies of those trapped in the darkness of rubble are
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`never recovered.
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`6.
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`Defendants Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla are knowingly
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`benefiting from and providing substantial support to this “artisanal” mining system
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`in the DRC. Defendants know and have known for a significant period of time the
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`reality that DRC’s cobalt mining sector is dependent upon children, with males
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`performing the most hazardous work in the primitive cobalt mines, including tunnel
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`digging. These boys are working under stone age conditions for paltry wages and at
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`immense personal risk to provide cobalt that is essential to the so-called “high tech”
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`sector, dominated by Defendants and other companies. For the avoidance of doubt,
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`every smartphone, tablet, laptop, electric vehicle, or other device containing a
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`lithium-ion rechargeable battery requires cobalt in order to recharge. Put simply, the
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`hundreds of billions of dollars generated by the Defendants each year would not be
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`possible without cobalt mined in the DRC.
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`6
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 7 of 79
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`7.
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`Plaintiffs Jane Doe 1, based on the death in a mining accident when he
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`was a minor child of her nephew and legal dependent, James Doe 1; John Doe 1,
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`who was severely injured in a mining accident when he was a minor child; John Doe
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`2 based on the death of his son, James Doe 2, in a mining accident when he was a
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`minor child; Jenna Roe 3, on behalf of her minor child son, John Doe 3, who was
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`severely injured in a mining accident; James Doe 4, on behalf of his minor child son,
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`John Doe 4, who was severely injured in a mining accident; John Doe 5, who was
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`severely injured in a mining accident when he was a minor child; Jenna Doe 6, on
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`behalf of her minor son John Doe 6, who was severely injured in a mining accident;
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`Jane Doe 2, based on the death in a mining accident when he was a minor child of
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`her brother and legal dependent, Joshua Doe 2; Jenna Doe 7, on behalf of her minor
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`son John Doe 7, who was severely injured in a mining accident; Jenna Doe 8, on
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`behalf of her minor son John Doe 8, who was severely injured in a mining accident;
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`John Doe 9, who was severely injured in a mining accident when he was a minor
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`child; Jenna Doe 10, on behalf of her minor son John Doe 10, who was severely
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`injured in a mining accident; Jenna Doe 11, on behalf of her minor son John Doe
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`11, who was severely injured in a mining accident; Jane Doe 3, based on the death
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`in a mining accident when he was a minor child of her son James Doe 3; John Doe
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`12 based on the death in a mining accident when he was a minor child of his younger
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`brother and legal dependent, James Doe 12; and John Doe 13, who was severely
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`injured in a mining accident when he was a minor child, bring this action against
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`7
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 8 of 79
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`Defendants on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated current and
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`former child workers who are required to perform extremely hazardous work in
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`cobalt mining operations within Haut-Katanga and Lualaba Provinces of the DRC
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`which include the cobalt mining areas of Kolwezi, Fungurume, Likasi, Kambove,
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`Kipushi, and Lubumbashi. Plaintiffs assert claims for forced child labor in violation
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`of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (“TVPRA”), 18 U.S.C. §
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`1595 et. seq. Plaintiffs also seek relief based on common law claims of unjust
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`enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
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`8.
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`Plaintiffs herein are representative of the child cobalt miners, some as
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`young as six years of age, who work in exceedingly harsh, hazardous, and toxic
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`conditions that are on the extreme end of “the worst forms of child labor”
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`prohibited by ILO Convention No. 182. Some of the child miners are also
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`trafficked. Plaintiffs and the other child miners producing cobalt for Defendants
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`Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla typically earn 2-3 U.S. dollars per day
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`and, remarkably, in many cases even less than that, as they perform backbreaking
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`and hazardous work that will likely kill or maim them. Based on indisputable
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`research, cobalt mined in the DRC is listed on the U.S. Department of Labor’s
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`International Labor Affairs Bureau’s List of Goods Produced with Forced and Child
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`Labor.3
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`3 US Department of Labor, List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, available at
`www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods.
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`8
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 9 of 79
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`9.
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`Further, the horrors of the plight of these children has been widely
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`reported in the media. For example, on September 30, 2016, the Washington Post
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`published a major expose by Todd Frankel, Cobalt Pipeline, Tracing the path from deadly
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`hand-dug mines in Congo to consumers’ phones and laptops,4 which specifically discussed the
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`willful ignorance of companies like Defendants that are purchasing DRC cobalt
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`without regard to whether it was mined by children, like Plaintiffs herein, who are
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`forced to perform hazardous labor.
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`10.
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`In addition, Siddharth Kara, who has been researching and reporting on
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`this issue and is serving as an expert witness for the Plaintiffs in this case,
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`published an October 12, 2018 article in The Guardian, Is your phone tainted by the
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`misery of the 35,000 children in Congo's mines?5 Kara has conducted an academic survey
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`of working conditions in the southeastern provinces of the DRC and based on 303
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`completed cases Kara has learned, inter alia, that children under the age of 14 years
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`earn an average of $0.81 per day, adult females earn an average of $1.02 per day,
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`and adult males earn an average of $2.04 per day. Children are primarily coerced
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`into cobalt mining work due to injury or death suffered by parents in cobalt
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`mining, the inability to pay school fees, or population displacement when their
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`home village is bulldozed to create space for a new industrial mining site. In an
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`August 5, 2017 article in the Mail on Sunday by Barbara Jones, Child miners aged four
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`4https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/congo-cobalt-mining-for-lithium-
`ion-battery/?tid=lk_inline_manual_3
`5 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/oct/12/phone-misery-children-congo-
`cobalt-mines-drc#img-1
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`9
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 10 of 79
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`living a hell on Earth so YOU can drive an electric car,6 the author observes, “No one
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`knows quite how many children have died mining cobalt in the Katanga region in
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`the south-east of the country. The UN estimates 80 a year, but many more deaths
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`go unregistered, with the bodies buried in the rubble of collapsed tunnels. Others
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`survive but with chronic diseases which destroy their young lives. Girls as young as
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`ten in the mines are subjected to sexual attacks and many become pregnant.”
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`11.
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`In 2016, Amnesty International published a major report on the horrific
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`conditions for child laborers mining cobalt in the DRC, This Is What We Die For –
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`Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo Power the Global Trade in Cobalt.
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`(hereinafter the “Amnesty Report”).7 The report states “[i]t is widely recognized
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`internationally that the involvement of children in mining constitutes one of the
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`worst forms of child labour, which governments are required to prohibit and
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`eliminate. The nature of the work that [Amnesty’s] researchers found that the
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`children do in artisanal cobalt mining in the DRC is hazardous, and likely to harm
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`children’s health and safety.”8 The Amnesty Report further states, “[i]t is no secret
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`that children mine cobalt in the DRC. The US Department of Labor has listed it as
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`a good produced by child labour since at least 2009. Several non-governmental
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`organisations (NGOs) have also published studies on child labour in Katangan
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`6 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4764208/Child-miners-aged-four-living-hell-Earth.html
`7 www.amnesty.org
`8 Id. at 6.
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`10
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`mines. UNICEF estimated in 2014 that approximately 40,000 boys and girls work
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`in all the mines across the whole of the former province, many of them involved
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`in cobalt mining. In 2013, World Vision published a detailed study of children
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`working in the artisanal mines of Kambove.”9
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`12.
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`Plaintiffs’ counsel and their research team have independently traveled to
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`the cobalt mining areas of DRC and have documented and photographed the
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`brutal conditions for children mining cobalt for use by Defendants. The research
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`team includes Siddharth Kara, a leading expert on modern slavery and child labor.
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`He has documented several thousand slaves and child laborers in more than fifty
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`countries across nineteen years of research and advises the United Nations, several
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`governments, charitable foundations, and non-profit organizations on anti-slavery
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`policy and law. In addition to his article on cobalt mining in the DRC published in
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`the Guardian, Kara is the author of three books on modern slavery and human
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`trafficking, Modern Slavery: A Global Perspective (Columbia University Press, 2017),
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`Bonded Labor: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia (Columbia University Press,
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`2012), and Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (Columbia University
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`Press, 2009). Kara has also published two academic reports - “Tainted Garments”
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`(UC Berkeley, 2019) and “Tainted Carpets” (Harvard University, 2014) – that
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`document forced and child labor at the bottom of specific global supply chains.
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`9 Id. at 28 (footnotes omitted).
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`Kara has taken two trips to the DRC and has conducted extensive research on
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`forced labor and child labor in cobalt mining. Kara holds academic positions at
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`the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard School of Public Health, and the University
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`of California, Berkeley.
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`13. The research team also includes Dr. Roger-Claude Liwanga, a DRC
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`national with extensive experience researching child labor and trafficking in his
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`home country. He is a fellow on Human Trafficking and Forced Labor with the
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`FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University. Since fall 2017,
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`Dr. Liwanga has been adjunct professor at Emory Law, where he teaches the Child
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`Protection and International Human Rights course. Among his relevant
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`publications, he recently published a book chapter, in Research Handbook on
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`Child Migration (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018), and a book, Child Mining in
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`an Era of High-Technology: Understanding the Roots, Conditions and
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`Effects of Labor Exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Alpha
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`Academic Press, 2017). Previously, Dr. Liwanga published a June 26, 2013 article
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`in The CNN, Child miners face death for tech,10 and produced a short documentary,
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`Children of the Mines, which was once aired on WCVB-ABC TV in Boston on
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`January 12, 2014.11
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`10 http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/26/child-miners-face-death-for-tech/
`11https://www.wcvb.com/article/january-12-2014-child-miners-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-
`congo/8200142
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`12
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`14. The following are photos of young children, none of whom are Plaintiffs
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`in this case, mining cobalt in DRC that were taken by Plaintiffs’ research team during
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`their 2017-19 trips to DRC:
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`15. There is no question that Defendants have specific knowledge that the
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`cobalt mined in DRC they use in their various products includes cobalt that was
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`produced by children working under extremely hazardous conditions, that serious
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`mining accidents are common due to the primitive conditions and complete lack of
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`safety precautions in the mines, and that hundreds, if not thousands, of children
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`have been maimed or killed to produce the cobalt needed for the world’s modern
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`tech gadgets produced by Defendants and other companies. Defendants are
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`knowingly participating in, supporting, and providing the essential market for cobalt
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`that has caused the explosion of production by young children. Indeed, taking a
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`major page from the corporate coverup guide, Defendants Apple, Alphabet, Dell,
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`16
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 17 of 79
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`and Microsoft have joined and supported “model” mining programs in DRC to
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`create the false impression that they have acted to prevent the known horrors of
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`cobalt mining in the DRC by children.
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`16. Rather than taking meaningful action to prevent further deaths and
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`maiming of children in the DRC cobalt mines, Defendants Apple, Alphabet, Dell,
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`and Microsoft and Tesla also claim to have “voluntary programs” to stop
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`themselves from using prohibited child labor and forced labor in their supply
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`chains. See, e.g., Apple’s 2018 Statement on Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking and
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`Slavery in Our Business and Supply Chain,12 which states at p. 5:
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`Apple’s program to prevent child labor in its DRC supply chain is based
`on Apple’s belief that empowering independent voices in the supply chain
`is critical to identifying, assessing, and remedying risks related to human
`trafficking and involuntary labor. In 2018, we continued to provide
`funding to the Fund for Global Human Rights, an organization that
`supports local human rights defenders and local activists in multiple
`countries, including in the DRC. Apple also continued to support the
`International Tin Association’s International Tin Supply Chain Initiative
`whistleblowing mechanism
`in
`the DRC
`that allows people
`to
`anonymously voice concerns in their local language related to the
`extraction, trade, handling, and export of minerals so allegations of
`misconduct can be surfaced and reported.
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`17. Apple’s “program” is typical for the industry. International Rights
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`Advocates, counsel for Plaintiffs, has detailed research on the nearly identical
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`“programs” announced by co-Defendants Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla, as
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`12
`https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Apple-Combat-Human-Trafficking-and-
`Slavery-in-Supply-Chain-2018.pdf (last visited September 6, 2019).
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`17
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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 18 of 79
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`well as most other tech companies using cobalt mined in the DRC. The fact that
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`these programs were announced is merely evidence that the companies know they
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`have serious child labor and forced labor problems in their DRC supply chains for
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`cobalt and they hoped that this minimal first step would postpone solving the
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`problem. If the stakes were not so serious for children currently mining cobalt for
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`the benefit of these tech giants, programs like Apple’s would merely be laughable.
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`The DRC is one of the most repressive countries in the world, but, until they are
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`forced to do better, Apple and the other companies are relying on largely illiterate,
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`desperately poor, and exceedingly vulnerable people to figure out Apple’s complaint
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`mechanism and report supply chain violations when they certainly cannot afford
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`personal computers or iPhones and they do not have internet or cell phone access
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`to connect to the outside world within the context of a violent regime that does not
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`tolerate dissent and an unregulated industry that could retaliate with impunity against
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`any whistleblowers.
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`II.
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`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
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`18.
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`Plaintiffs bring their claims in this judicial district in the United States
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`because such claims cannot be maintained in their home country of DRC, as
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`currently there is no law in DRC whereby Plaintiffs could seek civil damages for
`
`their injuries against the major end users of cobalt operating outside of the country.
`
`18
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`

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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 19 of 79
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`Further, the claims cannot be brought in DRC because the judicial system is
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`notoriously corrupt, virtually non-functioning, and would not offer any effective
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`remedy for Plaintiffs’ claims. It is also likely that both Plaintiffs and their attorneys
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`would be placed in danger due to the ongoing civil unrest in DRC and the
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`demonstrable hostility in the DRC anyone who openly criticizes the government or
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`is viewed as attacking the mining industry. Further, Plaintiffs bring their claims in
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`the United States as the United States has provided a forum for such human rights
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`lawsuits with the passage of the TVPRA amendments in 2013, which explicitly
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`provide for extraterritorial jurisdiction. See 18 U.S.C. § 1596. Finally, the
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`policymaking that facilitated the harms Plaintiffs suffered was the product of
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`decisions made in the United States by Defendants. Thus, Plaintiffs do not have the
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`“practical ability to litigate” their claims in DRC. See Reid-Walen v. Hansen, 933 F.2d
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`1390, 1401 (8th Cir. 1991).
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`19. This case is brought under the TVPRA, 18 U.S.C. § 1596, for violations
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`of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1581, 1584, 1589, and 1590, and the offenders are nationals of the
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`United States or present in the United States, irrespective of nationality, providing this
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`Court with federal question jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. 18 U.S.C. §
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`1596 explicitly grants United States courts extraterritorial jurisdiction for Plaintiffs’
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`TVPRA claims, all of which accrued after December 23, 2008, the effective date of §
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`1596.
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`
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`19
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`

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`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 20 of 79
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`20. Plaintiffs’ state law claims arise out of the same case or controversy as
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`their federal law claims and involve a common nucleus of operative facts. All injuries
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`Plaintiffs suffered were the result of their being trafficked and subjected to harsh
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`conditions performing forced labor. Thus, this Court also has supplemental
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`jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367.
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`21. This Court also has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (a)(2) based
`
`on diversity of citizenship. All Plaintiffs are foreign nationals and citizens and
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`residents of DRC and each of their claims for damages exceeds $75,000. All
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`Defendants are U.S. corporations headquartered in the United States.
`
`22. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants Apple, Alphabet,
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`Dell, Microsoft and Tesla because they are all U.S. resident companies and they do
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`substantial and continuous business within the District of Columbia. The long arm
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`statute of the District of Columbia, D.C. Code § 13-423(a)(1), uses the same standard
`
`as the due process clause of the Constitution, whether there are “minimum contacts.”
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`“Section (a)(1)’s ‘transacting any business’ clause generally has been interpreted to be
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`coextensive with the Constitution’s due process requirements and thus to merge into
`
`a single inquiry.” GTE New Media Servs. Inc. v. BellSouth Corp., 199 F.3d 1343, 1347
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`(D.C. Cir. 2000). “[The] ‘transacting any business’ clause has been interpreted to
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`provide jurisdiction to the full extent allowed by the Due Process Clause.” . . .
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`“Therefore, the ‘statutory and constitutional jurisdictional questions, which are usually
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`distinct, merge into a single inquiry here.’” United States v. Ferrara, 54 F.3d 825, 828
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`
`
`20
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`

`

`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 21 of 79
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`(D.C. Cir. 1995). See also Toumazou v. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, 71 F. Supp. 3d
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`7, 15-16 (D.D.C. 2014) (quoting Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 474-75
`
`(the “transacting business” requirement of D.C. Code § 13-423(a)(1) requires that a
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`defendant “‘purposefully avail[ed] itself of the privilege of conducting business within
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`the forum state’” and that it has established sufficient minimum contacts in the forum
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`state so that it ‘should reasonably anticipate being hailed into court there.’”). All of the
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`Defendants conduct significant business in the District of Columbia such that they
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`have well more than the “minimum contacts” required for this Court to exercise
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`personal jurisdiction over them.
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` 23. Under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b)(3) and (c)(2) venue over the collective
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`Defendants is proper in this judicial district. Based on subsection (b)(3), venue is
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`proper because there is no single judicial district where all Defendants are
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`headquartered, and this judicial district is one where all Defendants are subject to
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`personal jurisdiction. Further, based on subjection c(2), all Defendants are deemed to
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`reside in this judicial district because they are all subject to personal jurisdiction in this
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`district.
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`
`21
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`

`

`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 22 of 79
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`III. PARTIES
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`A. Former Child Cobalt Miners
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`24. Plaintiffs bring this action using pseudonyms due to fear of retaliation against
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`them and their families by persons, including corrupt government officials, who
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`financially benefit in DRC from forced child labor mining cobalt. Plaintiffs’ case not
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`only threatens to expose criminalized elements within the cobalt sector, but also to
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`dismantle the source of its significant profits: cheap labor of abused child workers.
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`For this reason, Plaintiffs’ lives would be in great danger if their names were exposed
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`to the public.
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`25. Jane Doe 1 was the legal guardian of her nephew, James Doe 1, who died while
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`working in a cobalt mine on April 16, 2018. He was born March 17, 2001 so he was
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`17 when he died. He started working as a cobalt miner at a very young age. He was
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`forced to drop out of school after the second grade because his family could not pay
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`the $6.00 monthly school fees charged by the government school since the
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`government does not provide sufficient resources to operate the school. James Doe 1
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`first started working as a young child as a surface digger picking up tailings at a cobalt
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`mine and selling what he found for small amounts of money. At the age of 15, he
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`joined a group of other boys and young men and began digging tunnels at a copper-
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`cobalt mine that was originally operated by the state-run entity, Gécamines. The mine
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`
`
`22
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`

`

`Case 1:19-cv-03737 Document 1 Filed 12/15/19 Page 23 of 79
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`was Mashhamba East, near the village of Kapata. At the time of James Doe 1’s death,
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`the mine was operated by Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), which is owned and
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`controlled by mining giant Glencore plc (hereinafter “Glencore”), which was founded
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`by convicted tax evader and illegal trader Marc Rich and is known for widespread
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`violations of human rights and environmental laws, as well as participation in rampant
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`corruption all over the world. In a venture that is described in paragraphs 68-77, infra,
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`Glencore sells cobalt to Umicore, NV “(hereinafter “Umicore”), a Belgian company
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`that had its origins as a participant in King Leopold’s brutal exploitation of the
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`Congo. Umicore processes the cobalt mined by Glencore with the forced labor of
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`Plaintiffs and thousands of other child miners in the DRC, and then supplies the
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`refined cobalt to Apple, Alphabet, Samsung SDI, Microsoft and LG Chem (which
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`supplies Dell and Tesla) for use in cobalt-containing batteries. James Doe 1’s weekly
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`earnings of $17-$18 were a major source of support for Jane Doe 1 and the other
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`seven children who live with her. The day that James Doe 1 died, he was working
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`inside a tunnel at the mine. Other children began running out of the mine because
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`they were scared by some soldiers who were entering. James Doe 1 also began to
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`leave the mine, but the tunnel he was in collapsed and killed him. Jane Doe 1 a

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