Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System v. Hershey Co., No. 7996, Master’s Report (Del. Ch. Aug. 16, 2013).

This decision rejected a demand for books and records of the Hershey Company based on DGCL Section 220. The stockholder claimed, in essence, that Hershey’s management must be complicit in the abhorrent child labor practices in the two West African countries where most of their cocoa is sourced. The Court of Chancery, in a report by a Master in Chancery, did not find the requisite “credible basis” in the mere “guilt by association” arguments presented.  Frank Reynolds of Thomson Reuters provides a helpful overview of the case in his article at this link.

We will have a more fulsome summary of this case on these pages soon.