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Unilever was negligent in protecting its own employees in Kenya

Unilever was negligent in protecting its own employees in Kenya

Statement

25 January 2019

SOMO has countersigned this letter to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in the context of the appeal in the case of AAA & Others versus Unilever Plc and Unilever Tea Kenya Limited A2/ 2017/0721. Unilever is accused of gross negligence in protecting its tea plant workers in Kenya during the extreme acts of violence that accompanied the elections there in 2007. The letter was drafted by Chris Esdaile of REDRESS to support the appeal of the victims.

SOMO research from that same year showed poor working conditions on Unilever’s tea plantations in Kenya, including discrimination against population groups. In this connection, the report refers to the ethnically and politically motivated violence.