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November 27, 2007 |
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DOLE FOOD: Appeals Legal & Constitutional Issues in Tellez Case Although the Dole Food Company, Inc., said it is pleased that the punitive damages phase has concluded in the Tellez case in Los Angeles Superior Court, it will still file an appeal on legal and constitutional issues pertaining to the verdict. As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on Nov. 21, 2007, at a jury hearing held Nov. 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria G. Chaney's chamber, Dole Food was asked to pay five former Nicaraguan employees US$2.5 million for punitive damages. These workers also got a US$3.2 million compensatory damages for suffering sterility due to exposure to the pesticide DBCP on Dole's banana plantations in Nicaragua. Most of the compensatory award will be paid by Dole, while the rest will come from Dow Chemical Co., which manufactured the pesticide. Dole Food's executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary C. Michael Carter commented to Fresh Plaza, "Dole appreciates the dedication, commitment and professionalism of the jury and the court in what was a long and complex trial. Headquartered in Westlake Village, California, Dole Food Company, Inc. -- http://www.dole.com/ -- is a producer and marketer of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and fresh-cut flowers, and markets a line of packaged foods. The company has four primary operating segments. The fresh fruit segment produces and markets fresh fruit to wholesale, retail and institutional customers worldwide. The fresh vegetables segment contains operating segments that produce and market commodity vegetables and ready-to-eat packaged vegetables to wholesale, retail and institutional customers primarily in North America, Europe and Asia. The packaged foods segment contains several operating segments that produce and market packaged foods, including fruit, juices and snack foods. Dole's fresh-cut! flowers segment sources, imports and markets fresh-cut flowers, grown mainly in Colombia and Ecuador, primarily to wholesale florists and supermarkets in the U.S. * * * As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter on Jan. 31, 2007, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Dole Food Company Inc.'s corporate family rating to B2 from B1; probability of default rating to B2 from B1; senior secured bank credit facilities to Ba3 from Ba2; senior unsecured notes to Caa1 from B3; and various shelf registrations to (P)Caa1 from (P)B3. Moody's said the outlook is stable. On Dec. 11, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its ratings on Dole Food Co. Inc. and Dole Holding Co. LLC, including its corporate credit rating!, to 'B' from 'B+'. |
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