Jury holds Dole liable for punitive damages, By John Spano, November 8, 2007, Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times Nicaraguan farmworkers had already been granted $3.2 million in compensatory damages from the food company. The latest ruling opens the door for an additional award. Dole Foods of Westlake Village should be liable for civil punishment for concealing health dangers posed to workers by a pesticide used on its Nicaraguan banana plantations 30 years ago, jurors in a Los Angeles courtroom decided Wednesday. Jurors earlier ruled that DBCP was a defective product.