Kevin Brown has spent his career overseeing global supply chains while the workers making his products suffer extreme abuse. He fancies himself a sustainability leader. But his track record tells a different story.
Kevin’s reputation has finally caught up to his record.
Kevin Brown Runs a Ruthless Supply Chain
Kevin Brown is Dell Technologies' Chief Supply Chain Officer. He directly oversees the company's $67 billion procurement operation and all supplier relationships. Under his supervision, Dell has been tied to horrific labor abuses and supply chain oversights in the global tech industry.
01
In 2019, Dell was named in a lawsuit alleging it knowingly profited from child labor in cobalt mines. The suit described children as young as six digging for the minerals that power Dell's devices, suffering injuries and death in tunnel collapses. Some children were paid as little as $1.50 per day for working six days a week, the complaint alleged.
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Dell is a major client of Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer whose Chinese factories producing products for Dell saw at least 14 worker suicides in 2010. Investigations documented excessive overtime of up to 80 hours per month, dangerous conditions, subsistence wages, and overcrowded dormitories.
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Dell marketed a partnership with Goodwill as a responsible recycling program, but a 2016 investigation found that donated Dell devices were ending up in informal junkyards in Hong Kong, where workers with no protective gear smashed equipment releasing toxic mercury. It was the first of three times the program was caught illegally exporting e-waste in violation of Dell's own policies.
These practices would be unacceptable to corporate leaders with any ethical standards. For Kevin Brown, they’re just the cost of doing business.
And now he’s at Kroger...
Kroger has spent years building sophisticated surveillance and pricing structures to squeeze as much profit as it can out of shoppers. From electronic shelf labels that can change prices instantly to cameras hidden in store displays and vast profiles built from shoppers’ data, Kroger is watching its customers and ripping them off.
Despite having promised to switch to better eggs, Kroger continues selling low-quality eggs from filthy, cruel conditions that would make anyone’s stomach churn.
A Kroger executive admitted under oath to gouging prices on milk and eggs above inflation during COVID. Kroger has also been found charging customers higher prices in towns where customers have no other store options.
Kevin’s all
wrong.
Kevin Brown has been on Kroger's board since 2021 and, ironically, even serves on its Public Responsibilities Committee: the body responsible for overseeing the company's ethical commitments and social impact. He is among those most responsible for ensuring Kroger treats its workers, customers, and communities fairly.
Since 2024, Kroger has faced a price gouging investigation, a failed $25 billion merger blocked by the FTC, worker strikes, and 20 lawsuits for wage theft.
In 2025, Kroger’s CEO resigned over some major ethical violation the company has been secretive about — all during Kevin’s tenure as a Kroger leader.
