Yves Rocher case in Türkiye
For justice beyond
borders
Why was a legal action brought against Yves Rocher?
Sherpa recalls that any person accused or prosecuted by a national or international jurisdiction is presumed innocent until found guilty by a final court decision. In this respect, an appealable decision does not constitute a final decision.
Subsidiary of the Rocher Group, Kosan Kozmetik is a company that manufactures Flormar beauty products, in the Gebze industrial basin in Türkiye. In 2018, the subsidiary dismissed more than 130 employees, mostly women, who had joined the Turkish trade union Petrol-Iş and wanted to assert their rights with regards to their working conditions described as: very low wages, exposure to harmful products in the absence of suitable equipment, and allegations of discrimination against women, etc.
After a formal notice in 2020, Sherpa, alongside ActionAid France, Petrol-Iş and 34 former employees took the cosmetics company to court in March 2022 for failing to comply with its Duty of Vigilance regarding freedom of association and fundamental rights of workers.
Adopted in 2017, the French Law on the Duty of Vigilance obliges large French companies to establish, publish and effectively implement a vigilance plan containing appropriate measures to identify risks and prevent serious violations of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the health and safety of individuals resulting from the activities of their subsidiaries, including those located outside France.
Sherpa, ActionAid France, Petrol-Iş and the former employees are asking the court to recognize that the Rocher group has failed to comply with its Duty of Vigilance, to enjoin it to take appropriate preventive measures, and to order it to compensate the damages suffered by the employees and by the union.
Timeline
Key dates
Impact
Why initiate legal action?
The law is a tool of power in a globalised world. It underpins power relations and encourages impunity for the most powerful. Because of their transnational nature, or the political and economic stakes involved, many violations escape justice. Bringing cases before the courts means putting the debate back on a legal footing, giving a voice to the people affected and thus restoring the legal tool to social movements.
Thanks to the work of NGOs and journalists, the consequences of globalisation are increasingly being documented and denounced. Our legal actions make it possible to initiate an contentious proceedings, establish the facts and apply the rules of law to these situations. They also aim to provide practical solutions by putting a stop to violations, holding the players concerned responsible and/or enabling victims to obtain compensation.
In support of our advocacy and in parallel with our legal laboratory and capacity-sharing activities, our legal actions are designed to contribute to wider and lasting change. They fuel public debate to highlight the limits of the legal framework and the obstacles facing the victims of globalised capitalism. They set precedents that shape a more protective legal framework.
“Every day we heard that more people were being made redundant. I could see the pressure being put on my colleagues, and I knew my turn was coming.”
Güler Keles
Former worker in the make-up department
“I have become aware of my own rights as a woman, both at work and in my personal life, and I have learnt to defend myself.”
Sultan Kiliç
Former worker in the make-up department
