5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama have filed five lawsuits in US

At least 5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama have filed five lawsuits in this country claiming they were left sterile after being exposed in the 1970s to the pesticide known as DBCP. Jury selection for the first of the lawsuits is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The cases raise the issue of whether multinational companies should be held accountable in the country where they are based or the countries where they employ workers. A verdict in favor of the workers could open the door for others to file similar claims in the U.S., where juries are known for awarding bigger judgments.