Chiquita loses suit to stop release of Colombia records
“Chiquita’s speculation about potential publicity and its effect on a future jury in the Florida litigation does not satisfy the level of certainty required” to exempt the records from the law, Leon said in his ruling Wednesday. “There can be no doubt that the SEC rationally determined from the record that disclosure of the Chiquita payment documents would not seriously interfere with the fairness of the Florida litigation,” Leon wrote.
Charlotte-based Chiquita contended the documents might compromise the impartiality of the Florida court proceedings. The company is fighting multiple suits brought by families claiming relatives were kidnapped and murdered after Chiquita made payments to the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC, and other terrorist groups. Complaints from around the U.S. are consolidated in a court in Fort Lauderdale.
The Chiquita suit was triggered by a request for the records under FOIA by the Washington-based National Security Archive, a nonprofit group that opposes government secrecy.
Chiquita plans to appeal Leon’s ruling, Ed Loyd, a company spokesman, said in an emailed statement. “The ‘National Security Archive’ is not an independent public interest group,” Loyd said. “It is associated with and is actively assisting the plaintiffs’ lawyers who are involved in trying to extract millions of dollars from Chiquita through litigation. “Chiquita does not believe that the Archive is entitled to the documents under FOIA, and the company will continue to defend against these claims.”
Chiquita, the owner of the namesake banana brand, was fined $25 million after pleading guilty in March 2007 to engaging in transactions with a terrorist group. It paid AUC militias $1.7 million from 1997 to 2004, prosecutors said.
The company has said that its employees were victims and that the actions the company took were motivated to protect the lives of its employees and their families.
Source: charlotteobserver.com
