SCPW-20-0000479

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

 

DOLE FOOD COMPANY, INC.; DOLE FRESH FRUIT COMPANY; 

STANDARD FRUIT COMPANY; and 

STANDARD FRUIT AND STEAMSHIP COMPANY , Petitioners,

vs.

 THE HONORABLE GARY W.B. CHANG, Judge of the Circuit Court of 

the First Circuit, State of Hawai‘i, Respondent Judge, 

and 

GERARDO DENNIS PATRICKSON; RODOLFO BERMUNDEZ ARIAS; BENIGNO

TORRES HERNANDEZ; FERNANDO JIMENEZ ARIAS; MELGAR OLIMPIO MORENO;

SANTOS LEANDROS; HERMAN ROMEO AGUILAR; ELIAS ESPINOZA MERELO;

HOOKER ERA CELESTINO; ALIRIO MANUEL MENDEZ; CARLOS HUMBERTO

RIVERA, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated;

DOLE FRESH FRUIT INTERNATIONAL, INC.; PINEAPPLE GROWERS

ASSOCIATION OF HAWAII; AMVAC CHEMICAL CORPORATION; SHELL OIL

COMPANY; DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY; OCCIDENTAL CHEMICAL CORPORATION,

individually and as successor to Occidental Chemical Company and

Occidental Chemical Agricultural Products, Inc., Hooker Chemical

and Plastics, Occidental Chemical Company of Texas and Best

Fertilizer Company; STANDARD FRUIT COMPANY DE COSTA RICA, S.A.;

STANDARD FRUIT COMPANY DE HONDURAS, S.A.; CHIQUITA BRANDS, INC.;

CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC., individually and as

successor in interest to United Brands Company, Inc.; MARITROP

TRADING CORPORATION; DEL MONTE FRESH PRODUCE N.A., INC.; DEL

MONTE FRESH PRODUCE COMPANY; DEL MONTE FRESH PRODUCE (HAWAII)

INC., incorrectly named as Del Monte Fresh Produce Hawaii, Inc.;

FRESH DEL MONTE PRODUCE N.V.; DEAD SEA BROMINE CO., LTD.; and

BROMINE COMPOUNDS LIMITED, 

Respondents. 

 

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

(CIV. NO. 1CC071000047)

Electronically Filed

Supreme Court

SCPW-20-0000479

28-SEP-2020

08:31 AM
ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS

(By: Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, McKenna, and Wilson, JJ.,

and Circuit Judge Browning, assigned by reason of vacancy)

Upon consideration of petitioners’ petition for writ of

mandamus or other appropriate relief, filed on July 24, 2020, the

documents attached thereto and submitted in support thereof, and

the record, it appears that, under the specific facts and

circumstances of this matter and the terms of the circuit court’s

July 2, 2020 “First Amended Order Granting in Part and Denying in

Part Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production of Dole’s Settlement

Program Data for Epidemiological Analysis,” petitioners fail to

demonstrate that disclosure of the requested documents, subject

to a protective order and the circuit court’s stated limitations,

warrant the requested extraordinary relief. See Kema v. Gaddis,

91 Hawai#i 200, 204-05, 982 P.2d 334, 338-39 (1999) (a writ of

mandamus is meant to restrain a judge of an inferior court who

has exceeded his or her jurisdiction, has committed a flagrant

and manifest abuse of discretion, or has refused to act on a

subject properly before the court under circumstances in which he

or she has a legal duty to act); Cohan v. Ayabe, 732 Hawai#i 408,

418, 322 P.3d 948, 958 (2014). Accordingly, 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for writ of

mandamus or other appropriate relief is denied. 

DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, September 28, 2020.

/s/ Mark E. Recktenwald

/s/ Paula A. Nakayama

/s/ Sabrina S. McKenna

/s/ Michael D. Wilson

/s/ R. Mark Browning

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