July 31, 2024
Kate Fitzgerald
On June 10, a South Florida jury found Chiquita Brands International responsible for the wrongful deaths of eight men murdered by Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), and awarded their surviving family members $38.3 million in the first in a series of bellwether trials against the multinational.
The plaintiffs in In re Chiquita Brands International Inc. Litigation are the surviving family members of the eight victims who were targeted and killed by the AUC, a brutal paramilitary known for mass killing. The U.S. has designated the AUC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization which makes supporting it a federal crime. Providing financial support to the AUC was also a crime under Colombian law. The plaintiffs alleged that Chiquita paid the AUC nearly $2 million, while facilitating shipments of arms, ammunition, and drugs, despite knowing that the AUC was an illegal organization engaged in a reign of terror.
Agnieszka Fryszman and Leslie Kroeger led Cohen Milstein’s trial team in representing the family members of the trade unionists, banana workers, political organizers, activists, and others who were killed by the AUC. During the six-week trial, plaintiffs allege that the deaths of their relatives were a foreseeable result of Chiquita’s financial support of the AUC.
“Our clients risked their lives to come forward to hold Chiquita to account, putting their faith in the United States justice system. I am very grateful to the jury for the time and care they took to evaluate the evidence,” said Fryszman, chair of Cohen Milstein’s Human Rights practice. “The verdict does not bring back the husbands and sons who were killed, but it sets the record straight and places accountability for funding terrorism where it belongs: at Chiquita’s doorstep.”
Far Reaching Impact
The $38.3 million jury verdict came in the first in a series of bellwether trials against Chiquita. Roughly 4,500 plaintiffs are awaiting their trial dates. After 17 years or pre-trial litigation, this is the first time that an American jury has held a major U.S. corporation liable for complicity in serious human rights abuses in another country.
In Chiquita, plaintiffs relied on the “transitory tort doctrine,” an ancient legal doctrine that provides that someone who commits a civil injury in one part of the world can be sued where he or she is found. In such cases, courts often apply the law of the place of injury, in this case Colombia. After evaluating dozens of expert reports, the court in Florida applied Colombian law on negligence and hazardous activity.
“U.S. corporations that operate in places with less rule of law and access to courts and history of corruption and political violence will look to this verdict and see you’ll be held accountable in American court,” Fryszman said. “You can’t simply roll the dice and hope you’ll not get caught. There is no law-free zone you can take advantage of.”
Case Background
Chiquita has operated banana plantations in Colombia since the 1960s. During much of that time, Colombia was mired in armed conflict between left-wing guerrilla groups and right-wing paramilitaries.
Plaintiffs allege that from 1997 to 2004, Chiquita issued more than 100 regular, monthly payments to AUC, totaling more than $1.7 million, as well as supplying the AUC with shipments of arms and ammunition.
With Chiquita’s support, plaintiffs claim that the AUC expanded to more than 30,000 fighters. Based on official sources in Colombia, court records say that “paramilitaries were responsible for killing or disappearing more than 100,000 civilians during this time period and committed more than 10,000 acts of torture.”
In March 2007, Chiquita pled guilty to criminal charges brought by the U.S. for knowingly providing material support to the AUC. The Department of Justice described Chiquita’s support to the AUC as “prolonged, steady, and substantial.” Following its admission, Chiquita agreed with federal prosecutors to pay $25 million in damages. The company’s executives were spared criminal prosecution in both the U.S. and Colombia.
The civil claims in this suit were brought on the heels of that guilty plea and were subsequently consolidated by the multidistrict litigation (MDL) panel and heard by a federal court in Florida. A test group of plaintiffs, referred to as “bellwether” plaintiffs, was selected to proceed to trial by jury, which began on April 22, 2024.
After six weeks of trial, the jury was satisfied that plaintiffs had shown a preponderance of evidence that the AUC “in fact killed” eight of nine victims included in the first bellwether trial and that Chiquita was liable for not only providing substantial assistance to the AUC to create a foreseeable risk of harm, but failed to act as a reasonable business under the circumstances. The jury was also unconvinced that Chiquita lacked a viable alternative to supporting the AUC. Accordingly, it ordered the company to pay the eight plaintiffs more than $38 million in damages.
Next Steps
While the date of the second bellwether trial has been temporarily postponed so that Chiquita can appeal the verdict, Leslie Kroeger, a Cohen Milstein partner, stated “After a long seventeen years against a well-funded defense, justice was finally served. We look forward to the next round of bellwether trials and will continue to fight for our clients.”
Cohen Milstein, EarthRights International, and other co-counsel represent the family members of the decedents.