Wall Street Journal
DuPont Ordered to Pay Damages Of $78.3 Million in Benlate Case
A Florida jury in Miami ordered DuPont Co. to pay $78.3 million to two plant nurseries in Costa Rica that claimed devastating losses after using the company's recently discontinued Benlate DF fungicide.
The verdict, late Friday, came in the first Benlate case to go to trial against DuPont alleging violations of Florida's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a statute modeled in many states after a federal law that allows plaintiffs to recover treble damages in civil suits where they can prove a continuing pattern of fraud. The verdict and the damage award capped six years of litigation and a three-week trial before Dade County Circuit Judge Amy Steele Donner.
"We're very happy we finally had the opportunity to present this case to a jury, and we're pleased by the result," said lead plaintiffs lawyer Adam Moskowitz.
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