Dole Fraud Lawsuits Dismissed

A judge decided today to dismiss two lawsuits against Dole by a group of Nicaraguan plantation workers. The lawsuits claimed that Dole exposed workers to pesticide that rendered them sterile during the 1970s. However, over the past three days, the judge heard evidence that showed that the lawyers for the workers were bribing workers and Nicaraguan judges to help their case.

A peasant affected in the 70' and 80' by the pesticide Nemagon, takes a rest beside a pig painted with the letters of US transnational Dole. Image: Newscom

Dole attorney Scott Edelman calls the lawsuit “blatant fraud” and the story is something “you expect to read in a novel.” Unfortunately, the fraud surrounding this lawsuit may mean that if people were actually hurt, we’ll never know.

Dole lost a similar lawsuit in 2007. The $1.58 million verdict is now being appealed. Dole says that there’s about 10,000 claims in Nicaragua alone, along with 6,000 claims in other countries, meaning that there are lawsuits worth billions of dollars against the company at any given time.