On July 10, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling that offers significant protection to U.S. companies from lawsuits over working conditions, where the overseas plaintiffs do not work for the U.S. companies but rather work for companies that sell to the U.S. companies. The decision was a victory for WLF, which filed a brief in the case in support of the defendant, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WLF argued that businesses should be held responsible for working conditions at their own facilities, not at the facilities of other companies over which they have no control. The appeals court rejected the plaintiffs’ claims that Wal-Mart should be deemed a “joint employer” with the overseas employers, that it was negligent in failing to do a better job of monitoring overseas working conditions, and that it was unjustly enriched by being able to purchase goods at prices that would not have been possible but for the plaintiffs’ low salaries.