BTW

A Bunch of Fake Claims Against Dole?

Multinationals have long worried about U.S.-style lawsuits taking root in other countries. Now they may add litigation fraud to their list of concerns.

In suits against Dole Food, Nicaraguan courts awarded $2.2 billion in damages to workers claiming they were made sterile by exposure to the pesticide DBCP on Dole banana farms in the 1970s. Dole has been battling efforts in U.S. courts to enforce these judgments at the same time it fights thousands of additional Nicaraguan DBCP claims filed in the U.S. In 2007 a handful of plaintiffs won $1.5 million in a trial presided over by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney.

All of this inspired a documentary, Bananas!, which casts the farmworkers' legal team in a positive light. But a 60-page ruling released on June 17 by Judge Chaney concludes that many and perhaps all of the DBCP claims are fabricated. (It doesn't address the safety of DBCP, which Dole says it stopped using in 1979.)

Chaney's "findings of fact" chronicle a scheme in Nicaragua by attorneys, judges, and others to mass-produce fake cases. Among the findings: Recruiters rounded up men who never worked on a banana farm, providing them with manuals, videos, and "field trips" to make them credible plaintiffs. Nicaraguan medical labs faked test results. "An entire industry has developed around DBCP litigation in Nicaragua for the purpose of bringing fraudulent claims," wrote Chaney, who authorized an investigation and hearings after Dole raised the issue of trumped-up claims.

Chaney identified U.S. lawyers who, she says, "actively participated" in the "litigation fraud." One is L.A. personal-injury lawyer Juan J. Dominguez. Through his assistant, Ivonne Rodriguez, he denies "any and all wrongdoing." In a court filing, Dominguez says Chaney failed to let him defend himself adequately against these charges, and he called for her disqualification in future proceedings involving him.

Dominguez is a hero of Bananas!, completed before Chaney's findings were issued. Over Dole's objections, the film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 20. Dole attorney Scott Edelman, who attended the screening, says Dole wants director Fredrik Gertten to rewrite the movie to reflect the new findings. Gertten rejects the idea. "The opinions of Dole are extremely well represented in the film," he says, via footage of company lawyers examining witnesses at the 2007 trial.

—By Michael Orey, Edited by Deborah Stead

Analyze This

With Judge Sonia Sotomayor's "temperament" a point of contention in the battle over her U.S. Supreme Court nomination, it's a good time to look at the role of disposition in a work setting.

Temperament refers to one's characteristic way of relating to the world: a tendency to be irritable, shy, outgoing, excitable, or calm. Your disposition is in part genetically determined, so it doesn't budge much. But you can modify some of the behaviors it produces.

That's important, because your temperament can determine the way others relate to you, starting early on. An irritable baby, for instance, can make some parents—particularly those who aren't getting the positive reinforcement they need—feel less inclined to become attached to and nurture their child. And an adult who is, say, tough (as critics claim Judge Sotomayor is) can elicit submissiveness from some, combativeness from others.

At work, recognizing the role of temperament can usefully depersonalize other people's behavior. It's easier to supervise someone who often seems unenthusiastic once you realize that he or she may simply have a cautious disposition. And you'll be less afraid or angry once you realize that your gruff CEO snaps at everyone.

Taking stock of your own temperament is a key element of self-awareness. Once introverts understand how their withdrawn behavior may discourage interaction, they can push themselves to come out of their shells. (It can be done. In a survey by organizational expert Edward Brewer at Murray State University, CEOs scoring high on the introversion scale said they were able to "adapt their communication style.") Extroverts can learn to sense when they're coming on too strong, saving their enthusiasm for the right occasion so they don't wear everybody out. In my experience, the best business leaders are endowed with a sturdy, even-keeled temperament, not overly outgoing or "interior." They're like the healthy babies who don't cry for long and sleep through the night—a gift to parents early on and to companies later in life.

—By Kerry Sulkowicz, M.D., Edited by Deborah Stead

Anti-Krizis Art

"Alumina Worker, Cut Costs!" "Say YES to Savings!" "We're Not Afraid of the Crisis!" These are just a few of the slogans thought up by Russian workers as part of a morale-boosting contest run by aluminum giant Rusal. In April, as part of its campaign to slash costs during the global economic slump, the company had workers submit entries for a poster competition. In a tongue-in-cheek reference to Soviet propaganda campaigns, it urged employees to design posters that would wage "all-out war against the crisis" and "crush waste and costs under your toes."

The winning poster among the 400 entries, announced on June 9, depicts a worker spearing a huge spider labeled "the Crisis". Rusal will display the posters at its Moscow headquarters before taking the exhibition on a tour of its 18 factories. With global aluminum prices down 60% since last July, the company wants to cut $1.1 billion in costs this year and is in talks to restructure $7.4 billion in foreign debt.

—By Jason Bush in Moscow, Edited by Deborah Stead

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