Dole Sues "Bananas!" Film-Maker For Defamation

Dole Foods sued Swedish film-maker Fredrik Gertten and his company for defamation July 8, after the documentary "Bananas!" was shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

The film depicted the purported harm to Nicaraguan plantation workers who say they were made sterile by the pesticide DBCP. But in April 2009 Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney ruled that those claims were fraudulent. The showing of the film went forward anyway, with disclaimers from organizers of the film festival.

• "Dole Sues Swedish Filmmaker Over 'Bananas!' Documentary," Associated Press via FirstAmendmentCenter, July 9, 2009.
• "Pesticide Cases Could Be Upended," Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2009, by Victoria Kim and Alan Zarembo.