$2.3 Million Jury Verdict Void in Pesticide Case Against Dole

California 2nd District Court of Appeal Judge, Victoria G. Chaney, ruled that a previous jury verdict of $2.3 million against Dole food company was void after finding that American and Nicaraguan attorneys engaged in fraud that caused defects in the trial, according to the LA Times.

The case, Tellez v. Dole, involved alleged injuries including sterility from use of the pesticide, dibromochloropropane (DBCP), to people working on Dole's banana plantations in Nicaragua during the 1970s.

Judge Chaney concluded that the plaintiffs' lawyers "coached the plaintiffs, falsified medical records and intimidated Dole's investigators in Nicaragua" accord to Law.com.  Consequently, the defendants "were unable to conduct reasonable discovery prior to the start" of the trial.

This ruling follows Judge Chaney's dismissal of two lawsuits against Dole in June of 2009, as reported by The Packer.  Judge Chaney dismissed these two lawsuits, finding that the "plaintiffs and their attorneys had engaged in a long-running conspiracy to commit fraud, even using threats of violence against Dole witnesses to suppress the truth."

Additionally, Law.com reports that in October, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida, Paul Huck, declined to enforce the judgement in another case against Dole "on the ground that the Nicaraguan law on which it was based was 'unfair and discriminatory' against defendants."

To read the LA Times story, click here.
To read the Law.com story, click here.
To read The Packer story, click here.

Posted: 07/19/2010