Six Nicaraguans who say pesticide on a Dole banana farm made them sterile are trying to keep a $1.6 million judgment that's threatened because a judge ruled similar cases were phony.

The men hired a lawyer who filed court papers Thursday arguing the Los Angeles judge relied on a flawed process to reach her decision.

Their case is one of several that claimed a pesticide made workers at Dole Food Co. banana farms sterile.

The men's nearly $1.6 million award was called into question this year after Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney dismissed two separate cases against Dole. Chaney ruled that lawyers concocted phony claims to wring billions of dollars from the company.

Because of that ruling, the six men must now prove their case wasn't fraudulent.