Women win pesticide lawsuit but payday still years away

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Subject:     Women win pesticide lawsuit but payday still years away
     Date:  4/25/2004
    From:     Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com) (www.thebestcontrol.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

http://www.oneworld.net/external/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lapress.org%2FArticle.asp%3FlanCode%3D1%26artCode%3D3711

NICARAGUA Long-awaited justice LADB.  Apr 1, 2004

Women win pesticide lawsuit but payday still years away.

A Nicaraguan court in early March ordered Shell Chemical, Dole Food and Standard Fruit companies to pay a group of women US$82.9 million in fines in a lawsuit brought by campesinas made chronically ill by the use of the pesticide Nemagon on banana plantations in the 1970s.

Use of the chemical was banned in the United States in 1967 after it was determined that it caused blindness, sterility, cancer, birth defects, and other diseases, but export of the product was not banned, and it was shipped to Central America where it was used until at least 1980.

The court decision follows a ruling for $489 million handed down on Dec. 11, 2001, against Shell, Dole, and Dow Agro Sciences (Del Monte), which the companies have refused to pay.

Managua Civil Court Justice Vida Benavente's ruling would mean about US$1 million would go to each of 81 plaintiffs.

During the trial, the plaintiffs testified about their ailments and presented evidence that they worked on plantations where the chemical was used in the 1970s. Expert testimony was presented on the effects of Nemagon.

The testimony revealed that about 600 people have died in Nicaragua from pesticide contamination in the past decade.

This case was just one of many filed against US multinationals in the past six years. The remaining cases involve more than 17,000 Nicaraguan banana workers and eight transnational companies.

Despite the ruling, there is scant likelihood of prompt payment to plaintiffs. Attorney General Víctor Talavera has pressed for a negotiated settlement with the companies, while at the same time committing the government to follow up on cases now in US courts. He said negotiations could proceed on a case-by-case basis for the 81 plaintiffs.

Insisting on $1 million for each plaintiff could result in a very long wait, he cautioned. "The North American procedure is a pain, and long years could pass even if the judgments are favorable for the plaintiffs in Nicaragua.," Talavera said.

There have been negotiated settlements elsewhere in Central America under similar circumstances in the past, but with unsatisfactory results from the point of view of the plaintiffs.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Augusto Navarro encouraged a settlement, not only for these 81 women, but for all plaintiffs, current and potential, noting that in the past there have been similar rulings where legal costs ate up 90 percent of the awards with basically nothing going to the claimants.

He also argued that some 700 claimants in the various suits have died uncompensated.

About 3,000 others continue to endure the elements in a park in the capital, where they have been protesting for weeks after having walked 130 km (78 miles) to get there.

"We are united and we will not recognize any agreement that does not bear our signatures, and we are prepared to die here unless they we see justice." a leader of the group said.

Navarro appealed to them and other injured parties to recognize that the awards were so high that it made it worthwhile for the companies to pay lawyers forever to avoid paying them. One tactic has been for the companies to counter-sue the campesinas, alleging racketeering and fraud.

Navarro wanted all the cases handled together, not just the ones recently favored by the ruling. The 81 winners, all women, were part of a larger group, but the decision went against 25 of the larger group because they had failed to present the results of medical examinations to prove damages.

 

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