Lawsuits

Nestlé Found Guilty of Spying on Activist Group

Not really the best disguise.
Not really the best disguise. Photo: Nesquik

The world’s largest food company has been ordered to pay civil damages to an anti-globalization activist group it spied on for a year, the Independent reports. In 2003, Nestlé hired Swiss security firm Securitas AG for the purposes of infiltrating the meetings of Attac, which touts the benefits of breastfeeding and actively protests the market saturation of the corporation’s ubiquitous formula. Using a false name and identity, Securitas AG embedded at least one employee with the protestors for a year, during which time she sat in on meetings and strategy sessions and then reported findings to Nestlé. Her identity was discovered after someone placed an anonymous call to a Swiss anti-corruption hotline, and while criminal charges stemming from the investigation were dropped in 2009, the maker of Nescafé, Nesquik, and several candy bars has now been ordered to pay 3,000 Swiss francs, or approximately $3,238 dollars, to the nine activists. That’s a lot of Kit-Kats. [Independent UK, Attac]

Nestlé Found Guilty of Spying on Activist Group