Pesticide Exposure Claims of Banana Plantation Workers Near Settlement

According to a news source, Dole Food Co. has tentatively agreed to settle
the pesticide exposure claims of more than 5,000 former banana plantation
workers in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras. They are represented by
Provost Umphrey, whose lawyers apparently ensured that the workers had
actually been employed on the plantations and experienced personal injuries
from exposure to dibromochloropropane. Similar claims filed by other trial
lawyers and involving hundreds of other plaintiffs have been dismissed due to
alleged legal wrongdoing, including falsified medical records, client coaching
and the intimidation of Dole investigators. The Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals determined in March 2011 that a $97 million judgment reached in
a Nicaraguan court against Dole and several other companies could not be
recognized under Florida law. The terms of the preliminary settlement have
not reportedly been disclosed. See The National Law Journal, June 14, 2011.