Business and Human Rights
Hunton Andrews Kurth represents a diverse range of global operations clients who are navigating risks and opportunities associated with emerging human rights-related areas of law. We counsel on laws focused on human rights and “soft law” (e.g., industry voluntary initiatives, NGO codes of conduct) that often transform into “hard law” with an eye toward brand protection, reputation, corporate legal risk avoidance, and compliance with reporting requirements and applicable laws.
We assist clients with international, national, and subnational human rights-focused legal frameworks. Our work includes navigating the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and related mandatory reporting and other regulatory requirements, which set out the components of human rights due diligence. Our team assists with the identification and management of potential human rights impacts associated with mergers and acquisitions, existing and future operations, and global supply chains.
Our cross-team human rights work is part of Hunton’s Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) and Environmental Justice practices and we draw on a diverse range of attorneys from our Corporate, Environmental and Climate, Privacy and Cybersecurity, Capital Markets and Securities, Labor and Employment, Energy and Infrastructure, and Litigation teams.
Below are select matters that illustrate our broad experience on human rights-related matters:
- Spent weeks on the ground in Central Africa at a client’s cobalt and copper mine and mineral processing facilities assessing, in part, potential human rights impacts on indigenous communities, child labor concerns, and conflict mineral-related sourcing requirements.
- Counsel a multinational company on human rights-focused issues in the context of disclosures, substantive due diligence, and contractual and other commercial matters.
- Assist Asia-based client in response to NGO allegations respecting international good practice conformance related to the client’s forestry, palm oil, and renewable energy operations, including allegations associated with illegal deforestation, worker safety, and the rights of indigenous communities.
- Counseled numerous employers on policies and procedures that comply with child and forced labor laws, among other international labor standards.
- Assist a client in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and associated supply chain disruptions and international sanctions.
- Counseled clients on California’s Transparency in Supply Chains Act, which focuses on disclosures related to human trafficking and slavery within upstream supply chains.
- Advise public companies in supply chain mapping and reporting under the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rules governing sourcing of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold in African nations.
- Counseled a client on the environmental and human health risks associated with workers and indigenous communities in the context of offshore oil and gas decommissioning and the transportation of dangerous goods in Southeast Asia and advise on related commercial agreements and risk allocation.
- Respond to shareholder proposals on ESG topics, including human rights-related issues, under SEC Rule 14a-8.
- Counseled clients on implementing privacy-protective features in connection with location tracking technology, including in relation to women’s health tracking apps and reproductive care clinics.
- Represented and counseled clients in international human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statute and related statutes.
- Assist commodity importer with vendor codes of conduct requiring client to assert that products are produced free from child or forced labor.