Latin American Banana Pickers Claim Their Bananas Don’t Work

Today in L.A., jury selection begins for the first of five lawsuits in which at least 5,000 banana pickers from all over Central America say daily exposure to a pesticide has left them unable to make babies. (Our hearts go out to them, only because our groins’ daily exposure to wireless internet beams will one day leave us as childless as Sheila E.) Farm laborers from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama have brought the case to the U.S. since they’re accusing American companies Dole Fresh Fruit and Dow Chemical of foul play in the ’70s that led to their sterility. (It doesn’t hurt that American jurors will award huge settlements in dollars, not pesos / córdobas / lempiras / balboas.)

The case could set a precedent for holding a multinational company accountable in a foreign country where they exploit–ahem–employ locals. Hear that, Prada? Your reign of terror over bumbling American boutique girls is next!

Banana Pickers Tie Pesticide To Sterility [ABC News]
Image [Jupiter Images]