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COMMUNITY NEWS: Urgent, Your Help is needed

: Tellez v. Dole Food Company Inc.

Thousands of Workers at Risk; Chemical Used in Banana Farms Caused Sterility;Judge Says “Potential Victims” are “Dow, Dole and the Court”;

What Happened to the Real Victims?

What is this Case About?

In the 1970’s, a farm chemical called Nemagon (DBCP) then used in the U.S. andelsewhere around the world was found to cause sterility among men. It was banned bythe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the late 1970’s and Dow stopped makingthe chemical.Dole Food Company, knowing full well its danger, continued to use the pesticide widelyin Central America countries, including Nicaragua. As a result, thousands of bananafarm workers and others who lived near the farms became sterile. This was a tragedy,particularly for those living in cultures in which the younger generation takes care of their elders. Workers who had expected children and grandchildren as their safety net intheir old age were denied that privilege by Dole.As a result, attorneys throughout the U.S.—and in particular a few in California—agreedto represent victims of Dole’s activities and one of those cases was

Tellez v. Dole

What’s Happening Now?

At first, the jury returned a verdict in favor of several Nicaraguan banana workersrepresented by JJ Dominguez and Duane Miller, both California attorneys; the juryfound against some of the workers, too. After losing after trial in 2007, Dole claimed it“discovered” evidence of “fraud” by the workers, including allegations against JJDominguez and his Nicaraguan attorneys. Despite the jury hearing evidence for four months on these cases, the

entire

case was thrown out after the trial judge acceptedDole’s “new” evidence.To back up their claims of fraud, Dole constructed a tale about a mythical meeting thatwas supposed to occur in Mach of 2003. That tale suggested that attorneys from thelaw firms representing the workers all agreed to create false documents that would helpthem extort money from Dole. Using this tale, Dole convinced the judge in one of thecases that those who blew the whistle on this “mythical” meeting had to be protected,and Judge Victory Chaney ordered their identities to be sealed. That meant that theattorneys protecting the legitimate banana workers with

real

claims could no longer helpthem. That’s because the seal prevented them from investigating the secret witnesses.Without being able to mount a proper defense, the judge declared the plaintiffsattorneys guilty of fraud and criminal conspiracy.Enter Steve Condie, a solo attorney. He was disturbed by Chaney’s unprecedentedorder sealing the case – in blatant disregard of well-established procedures in civil