A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday denied a request by Nicaraguan banana workers to enforce a $97 million judgment that was issued in their home nation against the fresh food giant.

A Nicaraguan court had awarded the $97 million judgment to compensate 150 banana workers who claim they were made sterile due to exposure to the banned pesticide DBCP. As a result, U.S. plaintiff’s attorneys petitioned a Florida federal court to recognize and enforce the judgment against Dole and Dow Chemical Co., which manufactured the pesticide and was also named as a defendant in the case.

But U.S. District Court Judge Paul Huck denied the request, stating that a Nicaraguan court “applied a law that unfairly discriminated against a handful of foreign defendants with extraordinary procedures and presumptions found nowhere else in Nicaraguan law.”

Tuesday’s order is another victory for Westlake Village-based Dole, which has been successful in defending itself in the pesticide litigation.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney ruled in April that an L.A. plaintiff’s attorney took part in a massive fraud by coaching witnesses to testify that they worked on Nicaraguan banana farms and were rendered sterile due to exposure to the toxic pesticide. Chaney also referred the lawyer, personal injury Juan Dominguez, to federal prosecutors and the State Bar for further investigation.

After Dole showed proof of fraud, Chaney threw out two lawsuits against the company. A state appellate court sent a third case that resulted in a $1.58 million judgment against the company to Chaney for review.