Brazilian labor prosecutors filed civil lawsuits Wednesday against meatpacking giant JBS and grain trader Cargill, seeking a combined BRL228 (US$47 million) in damages over alleged labor abuses in their supply chains, according to Reuters and the Associated Press (AP).
The lawsuit against JBS, filed in the northern state of Pará, seeks nearly BRL119 million in compensation, the AP reported. Prosecutors alleged that 53 workers were rescued from properties owned by seven ranchers who supplied the meatpacking company between 2014 and 2025. Those ranchers appear on Brazil's official public registry of employers found to have subjected workers to slavery-like conditions, according to the filing.
JBS showed "a systematic pattern of negligence," prosecutors said, according to the AP. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cargill faces a separate suit for BRL109 million over what Reuters described as "grave violations of human rights" in its soy supply chain in Rondônia state. Cargill also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Reuters, both cases stem from a 2020 initiative by Brazilian prosecutors to track supply chains for human trafficking and serious labor abuses. Three additional companies were also sued in connection with the project, Reuters reported.
Separately, prosecutors reached agreements with nine other firms that committed to improving their monitoring of labor conditions in their supply chains, Reuters reported.
