Costco is facing a federal lawsuit demanding that the wholesale chain label most of the shrimp it sells as the product of human slavery, alleging that Costco is deceiving customers by not including an advisory about slavery on product packaging. Furthermore, the lawsuit wants Costco to stop buying shrimp from suppliers in Thailand altogether.
The plaintiff in this class action suit, which may be the first lawsuit for such liability tied to the Thai fishing industry, is California resident Monica Sud, reported the Guardian. Her lawsuit aims to represent all California consumers of Costco shrimp products.
"Plaintiff and other California consumers care about the origin of the products they purchase and the conditions under which the products are farmed, harvested or manufactured," according to the complaint.
According to the suit, Thai shrimp commonly sold in United States comes from farms, and is not fished in the wild, reported CNN. However, the feed for the farmed shrimp comes from fishing boats known as "ghost ships," whose workforce consists of slaves, who are whipped with toxic stingray tails, shocked with Taser-like devices and kept in cages to prevent their escape.
The lawsuit also names Maryland-based CP Food Products Inc. and the company's Thailand-based parent company, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Ltd., as a defendant in the case.
The class action points out that Costco's relationship with CP Foods is contradictory to the wholesale's policy to not tolerate slavery by its suppliers, according to Bloomberg.
"Any representation by Costco that slavery in the supply chain is not allowed is simply false," the lawsuit alleges. "Costco continues to unlawfully induce consumers to buy Costco farmed prawn products... through the use of slave labor."
Costco has yet to make a public statement about the lawsuit.
