In Re: Chiquita Brands International, Inc., Alien Tort Statute and Shareholders Derivative Litigation

  1. May 28, 2024

    Chiquita Ops Chief Says Militant Leader Extorted Company

    Chiquita's former head of Colombia operations took the stand Tuesday for the second time in a trial over the banana company's funding of right-wing paramilitaries, recounting to jurors how he was summoned to the house of a notorious paramilitary boss to convey what he said were threats on the company's business.

  2. May 14, 2024

    Fighters Likely Killed Victims In Chiquita Case, Academic Says

    A Colorado professor took the stand Tuesday in Chiquita's trial over accusations that it financed a right-wing Colombian paramilitary group that committed war crimes against civilians, testifying in Florida federal court that it was "extremely likely" the militants killed several men whose deaths family members blame on the banana company.

  3. May 02, 2024

    Chiquita Paid Militants To Save Lives, Ex-Ops Chief Testifies

    Chiquita's former head of Colombia operations testified in Florida federal court Thursday on payments he approved to militant groups in the country during a period of intense warfare in the 1990s, saying his company was left with little choice but to make the payments because workers' "lives were at stake."

  4. April 30, 2024

    Chiquita Capitalized On Colombian War, Victims' Families Say

    Attorneys representing the families of 10 men killed during Colombia's civil war told a Florida federal jury Tuesday that the Chiquita banana company is liable for their deaths, saying it knowingly funded a right-wing narcoterrorist group that committed atrocities against its workers as the fruit corporation expanded its business.

  5. April 09, 2024

    Jury Must Hear Terrorism Payments Were Extortion, Chiquita Says

    Banana company Chiquita argued Tuesday it should not be blocked from presenting evidence about threats made to its employees by a Colombian paramilitary group and about other businesses making payments to the group at a coming bellwether trial in a long-running multidistrict litigation accusing Chiquita of funding the paramilitary group that allegedly killed the plaintiffs' relatives.

  6. April 04, 2024

    Judge Axes Experts In Chiquita MDL, With More On The Way

    A Florida federal judge presiding over a long-running multidistrict litigation against Chiquita Brands rejected expert witnesses offered by both Chiquita and plaintiffs who accuse the banana grower of financially supporting a defunct Colombian paramilitary group that allegedly killed their relatives.

  7. March 25, 2024

    Chiquita MDL Parties Urge Fla. Judge To Ax Trial Testimony

    Parties in the multidistrict litigation against Chiquita Brands urged a Florida federal judge Monday to exclude each other's witnesses ahead of the upcoming bellwether trials, saying they were not timely disclosed and have no direct knowledge of the claims in the case.

  8. March 15, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Chiquita MDL Experts Aren't Reliable, Parties Say

    A Florida federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation against Chiquita Brands weighed arguments Friday on what evidence should be excluded in two upcoming bellwether trials, with each side insisting the other's experts should be disqualified from testifying about claims that the company funded a deadly right-wing Colombian paramilitary group.

  9. January 01, 2024

    Trials To Watch In 2024

    Major trials coming down the pike in 2024 include a wealthy Russian art collector's suit against Sotheby's, first bellwethers in multidistrict litigation over allegations Chiquita funded a violent group in Colombia, and a criminal case against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez. Here's a rundown.

  10. April 24, 2023

    Chiquita's Ex-President Beats Colombia Terror-Funding MDL

    A Florida federal judge handed a win to Chiquita Brands International Inc.'s former president and chief operating officer Monday in multidistrict litigation over the banana grower's financial support for a defunct Colombian paramilitary group, after finding no evidence he was involved in overseeing the company's payments to the group.