New Twist in Banana Workers Case, as Dole Lawyer Claims 10-Year Fraud
In startling courtroom contentions today that reportedly received support from one opposing lawyer and the trial judge, an attorney for Dole Fresh Fruit Co. claimed a 10-year fraud underlies at least some allegations that workers on Nicaraguan banana plantations were rendered sterile by exposure to a pesticide there.
Lawyers in Nicaragua recruited impoverished men to attend training seminars, pose as plantation workers, conceal their children and falsely claim to be sterile, attorney Scott Edelman told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge today, reports the Los Angeles Times.
In response, Judge Victoria Chaney expressed concern about the safety of investigators and attorneys, as well as possible obstruction of justice and due process violations, the newspaper writes.
Attorney Michael Axline, one of several lawyers at the hearing representing plaintiffs in the case, expressed regret about the conduct of a former co-counsel accused of engineering the alleged fraud, and agreed with Edelman that “all parties were in a nightmare situation,” the Times reports.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “CA Jury Gives 6 Banana Workers $3.3M”
