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Article

11 Aug 2017

Author:
Shayna Posses, Joyce Hanson & Christopher Crosby, Law 360

7 accusing Chiquita of complicity in deaths of relatives through payments to Colombian paramilitaries are voluntarily dismissed from US lawsuit

"7 Drop Paramilitary Funding Claims In Chiquita MDL", 9 Aug 2017

The claims brought by seven relatives of murdered hostages who accused Chiquita of being complicit in their deaths by routinely paying off the right-wing Colombian paramilitary group that killed them are being voluntarily dismissed from a sprawling multidistrict litigation…

Olimpia del Carmen Quintero Coronel, Erlenis Maria Zarza Vanegas, Ledis Maria Lobato Valiente, Jeremias Blandon Romana, Elkin Antonio Ramos, Ofelia David de Osorio and Antonio de Jesus Giraldo Jimenez were each named in separate notices of voluntary dismissal, bringing to an end their involvement in litigation…

Jack Scarola of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA, who represents the plaintiffs, told Law360 on Wednesday that some of the thousands of survivors of the victims of terrorism have died over the extended period the matter has been pending and the cases on their behalf can no longer be prosecuted…

The Valencia suit — which alleged violations of the Alien Tort Statute, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and state and Colombian tort law — was originally filed in 2008…

The case was one of nine suits involving similar claims against Chiquita brought on behalf of thousands of Colombian nationals that were centralized by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that year…

In late November, Chiquita and individual executives failed to persuade the Florida federal judge to dismiss the MDL based on forum non conveniens…

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