Under threat of lawsuits by Dole, "Bananas!" was shown twice in June with a lengthy written disclaimer by Los Angeles Film Festival organizers who said it did not present a fair and accurate account but was worth showing as "a case study" of what happens when a story changes after a documentary is completed.
The lawsuit accused Gertten of "actual malice" for ignoring a court ruling that the case on which the film was based had been part of a massive extortion plot against Dole by attorney Juan J. Dominguez, the star of the film.
"Bananas!," which has the subtitle "On Trial for Malice," documents the alleged plight of Nicaraguan workers who say they were made sterile by the pesticide DBCP used at Dole banana plantations in the 1970s. It even accused Dole of causing the deaths of banana workers, something not alleged in lawsuits. It was completed before the fraud was uncovered showing that the men were never plantation workers and were recruited to lie by Dominguez and his Nicaraguan counterpart in a scheme that could have cost Dole $40 billion in damages.
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