Vale Mining Company Must Pay R$ 1 Million for Each Victim Who Lost Their Life in Brumadinho Disaster in Minas Gerais

Vale Was Ordered to Pay R$ 1 Million to Each Victim, of the 137 Families, for Compensation for Moral Damages in the Brumadinho Disaster, in Minas Gerais

The presiding judge of the 5th Labor Court of the Regional Labor Court of Betim, in Minas Gerais, Viviane Célia Ferreira Ramos Correa, ordered the mining company Vale to pay a compensation of R$ 1 million for moral damages for each worker killed in the rupture of the Córrego do Feijão Dam, in Brumadinho, which occurred on January 25, 2019, marking the largest workplace accident in Brazil in terms of loss of human life and the second largest industrial disaster of the century. See also: Looking for Your First Job? Mining Company Vale is Hiring 900 Professionals Without Experience to Fill Positions in Its Internship Program

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Vale’s Compensation Process for the Families and Heirs of the Brumadinho Disaster Victims

The compensation that mining company Vale will pay covers the direct workers of the victims of the accident and will be directed to the estates and heirs. The spill of mining waste on January 25, 2019, caused the death of 270 people, of which 137 were said to be direct employees of the mining company, according to the plaintiffs, resulting in a total of R$ 137 million.

In the lawsuit, the Metabase Brumadinho Union claimed that Vale’s compensation payments to the families were, until now, intended to repair the moral damage suffered by the victims’ relatives, such as parents, children, wives, and siblings. In the decision made yesterday, Wednesday (09/06), the ruling targets the moral damage suffered by the victims themselves for having their lives shortened.

Vale’s Process to Compensate the Victims of the Disaster in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais

According to Maximiliano Garcez and Luciano Pereira, attorneys for the union, the ruling brings justice to the deceased workers. Maximiliano states that the victims were cruelly abandoned by the mining company Vale, which allocated R$ 37 billion even for roadworks in Belo Horizonte, and not a single cent to compensate for the terrible suffering of the deceased workers, who died in atrocious conditions and had decades of life cut short.

Garcez further explained that decisions from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) have established jurisprudence for the right to moral damage compensation to be passed on upon the death of the holder, giving the “victim’s heirs active legitimacy to file or continue the compensation action.”

In the lawsuit, Vale requested, on the merits, the dismissal of the action. The mining company argued, among other points, the illegitimacy of the union as a plaintiff representing already deceased workers, in addition to questioning the appropriateness of “public or collective civil action concerning heterogeneous individual rights.” When contacted on Wednesday night, Vale did not immediately respond.

Mining Company Wanted to Make a Billion-Dollar Agreement

The government of Minas Gerais and Vale signed, in February of this year, a billion-dollar agreement for the reparation of damages caused by the Brumadinho tragedy. After four months of negotiations and 200 hours of meetings, the agreement was signed for over R$ 37 billion (exactly R$ 37,689,767,329.00).

The negotiations involved representatives from the Minas government, the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais, the Federal Public Ministry, the Public Defender’s Office, and the Minas Justice Court, in addition to the mining company Vale, responsible for the dam that collapsed at the Córrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho on January 25, 2019, killing 270 people.

However, representatives of those affected and family members of the victims have complained from the outset that they were not heard or invited to participate in the negotiations with Vale. They protested on the date in front of the Justice Court during the hearing.