Dole Foods is suing a Swedish film company for defamation after allegedly screening a documentary based on fraud.
The filmmaker, Fredrick Gertten, is alleged to have insisted on showing his documentary, Bananas! at the Los Angeles Film Festival, despite learning it was based on a fraudulent court case involving Nicaraguan workers.
Dole is seeking unspecified damages and a permanent injunction barring Gertten from showing the documentary in public, after it was announced he plans to distribute the film commercially and show it at other festivals.
Under threat of lawsuits by Dole, Bananas! was shown twice in June with a written disclaimer by Los Angeles Film Festival organisers, who said it was worth showing as a case study but was not a fair and accurate presentation of banana workers.
The alleged plight of Nicaraguan workers who said they were made sterile by the pesticide DBCP used at Dole banana plantations in the 1970s is documented in the film.
The lawsuit accused Gertten of "actual malice" for ignoring a court ruling that the case on which the film was based on was a fraudulent claim against Dole by two banana workers said to have made false claims to attain money for damages.
The lawsuit, by Dole solicitor Theodore Boutrous Junior, said: "To screen, promote, and profit from this film, despite the fact that its entire premise has been adjudicated a fraud... is the epitome of reckless and irresponsible conduct… defendants ignored the truth and screened this blatantly false film.
Gertten told The Associated Press he knew about the outcome of the case but didn't see any evidence of fraud.
"If I saw it, I would publish it. This film is valid. I hope Dole will understand it is a legitimate piece of work. I believe in freedom of speech and telling the story as I saw it," he said.