Dole Fined $2.5 Million For Hiding Risks Of Pesticides That Made Nicaraguan Workers Sterile

[hatrack]

A Los Angeles jury ordered Dole Food Co. on Thursday to pay five Nicaraguan banana plantation workers $2.5 million as punishment for concealing the dangers of a pesticide that rendered them unable to have children. The verdict, which awarded far less in punitive damages than some observers expected, was hailed as a victory by attorneys on both sides. It follows a Nov. 5 jury award of $3.2 million in compensatory damages.

The five-month trial marked the first time a U.S. jury had found Dole liable for its conduct outside of the United States, and may pave the way for future judgments. Some 6,800 other workers have filed suit over Dole's use of the pesticide DBCP, which has been banned worldwide.

Dole attorney Rick McKnight said the verdict was "a huge defeat" for the workers. "It doesn't even pay their costs, much less their bills," he said. Overall, the workers were awarded $5.7 million from jurors who found that the Westlake Village-based corporation acted fraudulently when it sent workers into its Nicaraguan fields without warning them that the pesticide had sterilized California plant workers.

EDIT

To some legal observers, the award was surprisingly low. "Dole got out of this very cheaply," said USC law professor Clare Pastore. "It had the potential to be a blockbuster case, and it didn't turn out that way." During the trial, Dole's lawyers urged jurors not to hold the sins of the "old Dole" from 1977 against the "new Dole" of today. The company, McKnight said, now emphasizes worker and environmental safety.

EDIT

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dole16nov16,1,7060573.story?coll=la-headlines-california

[aquart]

1. Oh, that isn't close to enough.

[DCKit]

2. So the price of a little brown person's loss of fertility is negligible?

Was that an L.A. jury or a Beverly Hills jury? I'm dubious about the complete lack of empathy.

That is so deeply offensive.