Lawyer witness who helped launch suits against Dole calls fraud claim ‘bunk’
By APWednesday, May 12, 2010
Lawyer witness calls fraud claim ‘bunk’
LOS ANGELES — A Texas lawyer testifying against Dole Foods denies that he was one of a group that allegedly conspired with a Nicaraguan judge to commit fraud.
Charles Benton Musslewhite on Tuesday denounced the claims of a conspiracy with the judge to fix sperm tests for men claiming to have been sterilized by exposure to pesticides on Dole banana plantations.
Musslewhite, who was one of several lawyers who filed suits on behalf of purported banana workers, called Dole’s claims of fraud “bunk.”
Dole lawyers have presented evidence that many of the men who sued never worked on plantations and were not sterile.
They claim that two other lawyers engineered a fraud to extort billions from Dole.
A judge is considering whether to throw out a $2.3 million jury award to six plaintiffs.
