Supreme Court Backs Nestle, Cargill on Child-Slavery Suit (3)

The U.S. Supreme Court gave companies a broader shield against lawsuits by victims of overseas atrocities, rejecting accusations that Nestle SA’s U.S. unit and Cargill Inc. were complicit in the use of child slavery on Ivory Coast cocoa farms.

The justices said the allegations against the companies lacked enough of a U.S. connection to go forward under the 1789 Alien Tort Statute.

The court stopped short of exempting corporations from liability under the law altogether. But lawyers on both sides of the dispute agree that the ruling makes it more difficult to sue.

“Today’s decision reinforces the longstanding legal ...