Facts

Plaintiffs, 185 heirs of 167 Colombians murdered by a violent paramilitary organization known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), sued Dole Food Co. Inc., under California state law, alleging wrongful death, survival, and other tort causes of action.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs alleged that a former Colombian subsidiary of Dole had made payments to the AUC in exchange for "security services," which allegedly included using "terror tactics" to drive small banana farmers from their land and violence to protect company property. The alleged conduct dated back to 1997.

Plaintiffs also contended that the limitations period was tolled because the involvement of Dole's subsidiary was not known to them.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendant contended that neither Dole, nor its former Colombian subsidiary, ever had any relationship with the AUC, and did not make payments to the AUC for alleged "security services." Defendant contended that plaintiffs had failed to state a claim against Dole, had failed to join Dole's former Colombian subsidiary, a necessary and indispensable party to the litigation, and had alleged a supposedly open and notorious relationship between Dole's subsidiary and the AUC which defeated any claim that the limitations period had been tolled.

Result

On July 7, 2010, the court sustained Dole's demurrers to plaintiffs' complaint on the basis of the statute of limitations, failure to join a necessary and indispensible party, and failure to state a claim on the basis of an alter ego or agency theory of liability. On Sept. 14, 2010, the court dismissed the complaint with prejudice.