Nicaraguan Banana Farmers

Introduction

After becoming well versed in the controversy surrounding Dole and the Nicaraguan banana farmers, it became apparent that many large corporations lack ethical and moral judgment when it comes to dealing with the safety of their labor force. The documentary, Bananas!*, the powerful documentary directed by Fredrik Gertten, allows us to witness the trial process behind the controversial case first hand as we watch the verdict unfold and learn about the defendants lives. The Nicaraguan banana farmers who worked on the plantation in the 1970's claimed to have become sterile due to exposure of the pesticide, DBCP, used by Dole on the crops. It has been over 30 years since the pesticide was used on Nicaraguan soil and Dole has ignored their cries until a Los Angeles based personal injury attorney, Juan Dominguez, was brave enough to take on the case and defend the Nicaraguan farmers affected. Dominguez knew what he was getting himself into and had put together an extremely talented team of lawyers who are dedicated to their profession in finding justice where injustice was served. After countless hours of work, Dominguez will not give up until his defendants are compensated in the amounts he feels they deserve (Gretten, 2009).

Ethics of Rights

Attorney Juan Dominguez always felt the need to defend those who he believed were wronged and who could not afford a lawyer of their own, which is why he does not charge for his services if they do not win the case. Dominguez believed that large corporations, like Dole, should not be able to harm their foreign laborers without going unnoticed, especially since the outcome of those afflicted by the pesticide resulted in sterility. He is the voice of the Latin community in Los Angeles and he is truly in the business of law for all the right reasons (Gretten, 2009). Dominguez falls under the ethics of rights theory because he believes that the "principle of moral responsibility is universal" (Farias, 2012). His intentions for getting involved in the case can be seen as truly altruistic because of his belief and practice of justice. Dominguez demonstrated in true character when he made visits out to Nicaragua to give hope to the farmers and their families who have been suffering for 30 years since the incident. However, one can claim that Dominguez's actions can be viewed as unethical. Perhaps he had ulterior motives when he took on such a high profile case, which would classify Dominguez as an ethical egoist (Farias, 2012). Maybe the reasoning behind his decision to defend the Nicaraguan farmers was to acquire more publicity. Whatever the argument may be, Juan Dominguez has a good heart and has been defending the underdog for quite some time in the history of his professional career.

Utilitarianism

Like many corporations we have learned about in this course, Dole's actions fall under the ethical theory of utilitarianism for valid reasons. After Dow Chemical, the manufacturer of DBCP, issued a recall of the pesticide, which was later banned in the US, Dole continued to use it on their crops in other countries. Dole was only interested in producing the greatest amount of bananas in the cheapest way. Dole's CEO at the time of the trial turned out to have