Samsung has now reportedly had a complaint leveled against it by two non-governmental French rights organizations which claim that the company has taken part in deceptive marketing practices. More directly, the rights groups say that Samsung has violated the fundamental rights of its employees. However, and interestingly enough, the underlying source of the alleged problem is not something that took place in France but which has been used as a part of the larger Samsung marketing platform. The organizations claim that Samsung has been mistreating employees in its Chinese and South Korean factories, which contradicts commitments Samsung Electronics France has made in its advertising campaigns within the country.
That seems to indicate that the groups, identified as Sherpa and ActionAid-Peuples solidaires, are arguing that Samsung’s marketing garner phone sales based on factually incorrect statements made by the company. Additionally, Samsung could be found to be in violation of French law if the prosecution determines that the case is worth pursuing and Samsung is found to be guilty of the accusation.That’s because of a law which was introduced last year, enforcing human rights and environmental standards on multinationals that operate or sell products within France. As of this writing, a determination on the matter has still not been decided and it isn’t immediately clear whether a case will be brought against the tech giant.
For Samsung’s part, the source states that the company’s French subsidiary has not yet responded to requests for comments. Meanwhile, as per the Samsung Electronics site, Samsung indicates that it follows the local laws and rules of regions where it has a presence and that it applies a strict code of conduct. While there is no reason to believe otherwise, pending an injunction or some other evidence, some possibilities are available since the companies prior commitments have been publicly stated. For starters, the tech company has previously committed itself to the health of its employees and to those employees’ respective human rights. As part of that, it has also made prior statements committing itself against the hiring of underage individuals. The statements, particularly those about human rights, is fairly broad and could cover a wide variety of allegations. Since the precise nature of the claims has also not been reported, so it may be impossible to speculate about whether or not the complaint’s filing bears any merit.