Joint Employer Not Required: New Theories of Supply-Chain Liability

Short summary

Activists are bypassing traditional joint-employer doctrine by using consumer protection, unfair competition, and anti-trafficking statutes to impose liability on upstream companies for downstream labor practices. These theories shift focus from who controls workers to who benefits from mistreatment, compounding legal risk across jurisdictions. Companies should ensure policies and public statements are precise, distinguish standards-setting from operational control, and translate human-rights commitments into objective criteria.

• •New supply-chain liability theories use consumer protection and anti-trafficking laws instead of labor law
• •Risk compounds across claims, jurisdictions, and forums even when individual claims fail
• •Companies should tighten policy language and avoid broad commitments exceeding verifiable oversight

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