SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s labor court on Friday ordered Volkswagen to pay 165 million reais (about $30 million) for collective moral damages after workers were subjected to slave-like conditions at a company-owned farm in the Amazon during the 1970s and 1980s. Prosecutors said it is the largest such reparation in the country’s history.
The Labor Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation in 2019 after obtaining extensive documentation from a local priest who had tracked the case for decades. Following further inquiries and witness testimony, prosecutors formally charged Volkswagen in 2024.
The court accepted the charges that hundreds of workers were subjected to degrading conditions between 1974 and 1986 at a farm in Para state, owned by Volkswagen through a subsidiary. The farm was used for cattle ranching and logging.
According to court filings, about 300 workers were hired…
