French courts file preliminary charges against Samsung over misleading advertising on its commitment to human and worker rights.

In 2018, Sherpa and ActionAid France filed a lawsuit against Samsung, accusing the company of false advertising due to its use of child labour and violating workers’ rights. This is because Samsung published information on its website stating a commitment to guarantee human and worker rights.

This differs to the reality in Samsung’s factories. As recently as 2018, The GoodElectronics Network reported on Samsung’s poor working conditions in Vietnam, Brazil and India. The company were also forced to admit responsibility for the deaths of South Korean workers since 1984 as part of a lawsuit with SHARPS.

This landmark case against Samsung represents one of the first uses of the new French ‘duty of vigilance’ law, which has been used indirectly to prosecute a large multinational company for its actions abroad.

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