Nicaraguans awarded $3.2m over pesticides

Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Wednesday November 7, 2007
The Guardian

Six Nicaraguan farmworkers have won $3.2m (£1.53m) in damages after a Los Angeles jury agreed that they had been rendered sterile by the use of a banned pesticide by the US company Dole Food.

The judgment is the first in what could be a series of lawsuits against the company, and marks the first time that foreign farmworkers have successfully sued the US food giant in a US court. Four more cases are pending in Los Angeles, brought by thousands of workers from Central America.

The pesticide, DBCP, was sprayed on banana crops at night. Its makers, Dow Chemical Co, claimed that it eradicated pests that attack roots and boosted the weight of banana crops by 20%. But its use was suspended in the US in 1977 after workers in California were found to have a low or zero sperm count. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that Dole continued to use the chemical even though it was aware of the potential health risks. The chemical, argued Duane Miller, lead counsel for the workers, robbed the workers of their "male sexual identity".

Court papers showed that in the mid-1970s Dow warned Dole of the dangers associated with the chemical and ceased production. But Dole threatened to sue if Dow did not honour its pre-existing contract. Dole subsequently took delivery of 500,000 tonnes of the chemical, using much of it in Central America.

Stephen Hendricks of the Pesticide Action Network praised the decision. "It's good to see justice done for all these workers," he told the LA Times. But Dole officials said the firm would appeal against it. Courts in Nicaragua have already awarded $600m against Dole and other companies over use of the chemical.