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US payout awarded over pesticide
Former banana workers stand in line to sign a document in Managua, Nicaragua, July 2007
The case is the first of five lawsuits involving at least 5,000 workers
A US jury has awarded a total of $3.3m (£1.58m) to six workers who claim they were left sterile by a pesticide used at a banana plantation in Nicaragua.
The workers accused Dole and Standard Fruit Co and Dow Chemical Co of concealing the dangers posed by the pesticide, used in the 1970s.
It contained the chemical Nemagon (DBCP), used to kill tiny worms on the roots of banana plants.
The plaintiffs were among 12 workers suing Dole and Dow Chemical Co.
Jurors in the Los Angeles County Superior Court found that the two companies were a substantial factor in causing harm to the six.
The other plaintiffs were awarded nothing after the jury ruled that the companies had not substantially harmed them.
'Suppressed information'
The individual awards ranged from $311,200 to $834,000.
The jury decided that Dole - a California-based company - would be responsible for the bulk of the payments.
The suit also alleged that the manufacturers of the pesticide, Dow Chemical Co and Amvac Chemical Corp, "actively suppressed information about DBCP's reproductive toxicity".
Amvac reached a $300,000 settlement in the case before the trial.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7080143.stm
Former banana workers stand in line to sign a document in Managua, Nicaragua, July 2007
The case is the first of five lawsuits involving at least 5,000 workers
A US jury has awarded a total of $3.3m (£1.58m) to six workers who claim they were left sterile by a pesticide used at a banana plantation in Nicaragua.
The workers accused Dole and Standard Fruit Co and Dow Chemical Co of concealing the dangers posed by the pesticide, used in the 1970s.
It contained the chemical Nemagon (DBCP), used to kill tiny worms on the roots of banana plants.
The plaintiffs were among 12 workers suing Dole and Dow Chemical Co.
Jurors in the Los Angeles County Superior Court found that the two companies were a substantial factor in causing harm to the six.
The other plaintiffs were awarded nothing after the jury ruled that the companies had not substantially harmed them.
'Suppressed information'
The individual awards ranged from $311,200 to $834,000.
The jury decided that Dole - a California-based company - would be responsible for the bulk of the payments.
The suit also alleged that the manufacturers of the pesticide, Dow Chemical Co and Amvac Chemical Corp, "actively suppressed information about DBCP's reproductive toxicity".
Amvac reached a $300,000 settlement in the case before the trial.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7080143.stm
