06:26 AM EST, 03/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with a comment from Dell in the fifth paragraph.)

A US appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit accusing five US technology companies of participating in a venture that engaged in forced child labor in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The plaintiffs said Apple ( AAPL ) , Google's ( GOOG ) parent company Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Dell Technologies ( DELL ) , Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Tesla (TSLA) buy cobalt from big international suppliers, whose subsidiaries "exploit and perpetuate informal mining," according to the court documents.

However, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that buying unspecified quantities of cobalt, a metal used in the production of lithium-ion batteries, through the global supply chain isn't a "participation in a venture" under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

"Although we conclude that the plaintiffs have standing to pursue their damages claims, they have failed to state a claim for relief," the court said in its ruling.

"Dell has never knowingly sourced from operations that use any form of involuntary labor, fraudulent recruiting practices or child labor," a Dell spokesperson told MT Newswires in a statement, adding that the company contractually requires its suppliers to follow the same standard.

Apple ( AAPL ), Google ( GOOG ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires.

Price: 171.23, Change: +1.11, Percent Change: +0.65