The Wonderful Company has filed a defamation lawsuit against activist and social media influencer Flor Martinez Zaragoza. The lawsuit alleges that she spread false claims about Wonderful's farming practices, business ethics, and political affiliations. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)
- The Wonderful Company is suing activist Flor Martinez Zaragoza for defamation over alleged false claims about pesticides, union stances, and "cloud seeding."
- Zaragoza is accused of promoting antisemitic rhetoric by linking the company to Israel's occupation of Gaza.
- The company says it won’t tolerate spreading falsehoods, calling the lawsuit a response to a "months-long smear campaign."
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The Wonderful Company LLC, known for brands like POM Wonderful and Wonderful Pistachios, has filed a defamation lawsuit against activist and social media influencer Flor Martinez Zaragoza, accusing her of spreading false and damaging statements about the company’s farming practices and business ethics.
Zaragoza participated in a protest against local deportations in Fresno on Jan. 12.
The lawsuit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court in November 2024, alleges that Zaragoza, with more than 260,000 followers on Instagram at the time, made defamatory remarks regarding the company’s pesticide use, involvement in “cloud seeding,” and its stance on unions.
The complaint further accuses Zaragoza of promoting antisemitic rhetoric by linking the Los Angeles-headquartered company to “Zionist evil companies” and funding the Israeli occupation of Gaza in social media posts. The lawsuit also alleges that Zaragoza has a history of targeting The Wonderful Company.
The court document claims that in one post during nationwide protests of Israel’s war with Hamas, Zaragoza wrote, “Wonderful Co. Funds the Occupation. Now how big of a role did they play on the attacks on UCLA students?”
The Wonderful Company Says It Won’t Tolerate ‘Falsehoods’
The Wonderful Company contends that Zaragoza’s statements were baseless and intentionally aimed at harming its reputation.
“Both individuals and companies have a basic right to call out disinformation and hold those who spread lies accountable. This lawsuit is not the result of a difference of opinion but the consequence of someone spreading harmful lies to their followers,” Wonderful said in a statement to GV Wire. “We accept and even welcome differences of opinion. What we will not tolerate is a months-long smear campaign to spread falsehoods that cause harm to a company that has invested more than anyone in the Central Valley in the education, health, and welfare of farmworkers and their families.”
Zaragoza responded publicly to the lawsuit in a TikTok video.
“It is heartbreaking that big, wealthy corporations will use their resources to try and silence someone like me,” she said. “This is a common tactic to try and intimidate those that speak up.”
Zaragoza did not respond to GV Wire’s request for comment.
The Wonderful Company seeks economic and non-economic damages, including attorney fees, to be determined at trial.
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