Dole Withdraws "Bananas!*" Suit

A scene from Fredrik Gertten's "Bananas!*." Image courtesy of the filmmaker.

Dole Food Company, Inc. has announced that it is dismissing its defamation lawsuit against filmmakers Fredrik Gertten, Margarete Jangard and WG Film AB in the Los Angeles Superior Court, relating to the film "Bananas!*."

The lawsuit came about this past July. indieWIRE reported that Gertten, Jangard and WG Film were being sued by Dole for including "patent falsehoods" in their documentary, which had screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival. The film follows Juan "Accidentes" Dominguez, who on behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility.

Dole stated that it made its decision "in light of the free speech concerns being expressed in Sweden, although it continues to believe in the merits of its case." Dole strongly "believes in freedom of speech and expression, which are so important in Sweden and the United States."

"While the filmmakers continue to show a film that is fundamentally flawed and contains many false statements we look forward to an open discussion with the filmmakers regarding the content of the film," said C. Michael Carter, Dole's Executive Vice President and General Counsel, in a statement.