It is a sad reality that lawsuits are sometimes necessary to secure justice for someone who has been wronged. But all too often, frivolous or even fraudulent lawsuits are filed, and sometimes they result in a gross injustice.
A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a $2.3 million judgment against Dole Food Co. The judge found that a U.S. attorney had fraudulently recruited some Nicaraguans to claim they had worked for Dole when they had not. The supposed “workers” alleged that they had become sterile from exposure to pesticides at Dole plantations in Nicaragua, and they won the big judgment in 2007.
The ruse involved phony lab tests and threats against whistleblowers. Even the judge in the case has said she feels threatened over the decision she rendered.
“There was massive fraud perpetrated on this court,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney wrote.
The judge “noted that while there had been perhaps 3,000 to 5,000 workers on Dole plantations in Nicaragua from 1973 to 1980, suits were filed by more than 14,000 plaintiffs,” The Associated Press reported.
The purpose of lawsuits ought to be to provide real justice, not “jackpot injustice.”