Latin American banana workers’ claims over pesticide are revived in U.S.

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Latin American banana workers’ claims over pesticide are revived in U.S.

Jonathan Stempel
Reuters
Published Wednesday, Sep. 07, 2016 5:38PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Sep. 07, 2016 5:41PM EDT

Hundreds of banana farmers from Central America and South America will again have their day in court, after a U.S. appeals court on Friday revived six lawsuits accusing several big fruit and chemical companies of sickening them with a toxic pesticide.

By an 11-0 vote, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia revived claims by 228 farmers from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama against such companies as Chiquita Brands International, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Dole Food, Dow Chemical, Occidental Chemical and Shell Oil .

The court said a Delaware judge abused his discretion by dismissing the lawsuits instead of putting them on hold or transferring them, after another judge in Louisiana had rejected the same claims because they were brought there too late.

Circuit Judge Julio Fuentes called it “untenable” to throw out litigation that began in 1993, without any U.S. court reviewing the merits of the farmers’ claims.


Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/latin-american-business/latin-american-banana-workers-claims-over-pesticide-are-revived-in-us/article31754140/

[Dustlawyer]

1. It's a travesty what the corporations have done to these people.

The water in many villages in Panama is contaminated with deadly concentrations of chemicals from pesticides. The companies knew and covered it up, as usual.