Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Support of Chiquita Plaintiffs

July 2021

Corporate Accountability Lab filed an amicus brief asking the US Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Doe v. Chiquita Brands International. The case was brought by the family members of trade unionists, banana workers, political organizers, social activists, and others targeted and killed by the United Self-Defense Group of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC), a right-wing paramilitary organization in Colombia funded in part by Chiquita, the US-based multinational banana company. The plaintiffs are suing Chiquita, alleging that Chiquita aided and abetted the AUC by financing them.

The question before the Supreme Court is narrow: whether a party that challenges a protective order that both parties stipulated to should bear the burden of showing good cause for the modification. What this actually means is that the petitioners (a sub-group of plaintiffs) are asking the Court to review the 11th Circuit’s decision to lift the protective order that allows them to proceed without their names, addresses, phone numbers, or employment information being revealed to the public.Thus far, although Chiquita has access to these petitioners’ identifying information, the protective order has prevented the information from becoming public. If the petitioners’ identities are to become public, many of them will be at high risk of physical harm, and may even be killed.

The amicus brief -- filed on behalf of eleven international human rights organizations and one Colombian law firm -- argues that the protective order should not be lifted, as revealing the petitioners’ identities would put their lives at risk. 

In October 2021 the Supreme Court denied the petition for cert in the Chiquita case. EarthRights International (counsel for the petitioners) will continue the fight to protect their clients’ identities. 

For more background on the brief, see this related blog post.