Employees of foreign companies that sell goods to Wal-Mart brought claims against the Company, based on a code of conduct included in its supply contracts that specified basic labor standards the suppliers must meet. ?The District Court dismissed for failure to state a claim.?? The Ninth Circuit affirmed.?? It rejected the arguments that (1) the plaintiffs were third party beneficiaries of the supplier contracts; (2) Wal-Mart was the plaintiffs? ?joint ?employer; ?(3)? Wal-Mart ?had? a duty to monitor the suppliers; and (4) Wal-Mart was unjustly enriched by the suppliers? mistreatment ?of ?the ?plaintiffs.??????? The ?Court reached these conclusions, despite the fact the contracts contained language that ?Wal-Mart will undertake affirmative measures, such as on-site inspection of production facilities to monitor said standards.?
Doe v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 677 (9th Cir. July 10, 2009) (Gould, B. Fletcher, Fisher).