Judge says Nicaragua can''t enforce $98 million judgment against Dole

A judge has ordered that a $98.5 million judgment against U.S. food giant Dole and Dow Chemical Co. cannot be enforced. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck in Miami ruled Tuesday that the Nicaraguan court that awarded the judgment did not have jurisdiction and did not meet international legal standards. A Nicaraguan trial court had awarded the money in 2005 to 150 alleged banana plantation workers under a special law enacted by the Nicaraguan legislature specifically to handle their claims. They said they were exposed to a pesticide that made them infertile. Huck says the special law fails to meet international legal standards for due process and with the judgment attempts to establish facts "that do not, and cannot, exist in reality."