Technology and Victims' Compensation Systems: The Brumadinho Experience

Authors

Diego Faleck, Faleck & Associados

Abstract

The rupture of the B-I dam of the C6rrego do Feijio Mine, in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, owned by the company VALE S/A, which occurred on January 25, 2019, gave rise, from the point of view of civil liability, to a series of extrajudicial measures of socioeconomic reparation. These measures include the payment of emergency compensation to more than 100,000 people, and the implementation of an individual, optional, and voluntary compensation program for civil and labor claims, for the victims and their families. The compensation program was designed according to the principles and techniques of the evolving field of study and practice known as Dispute Systems Design ("DSD").

The first part of this Article will briefly address the foundations and operation of the victims' compensation program. The second part will address the challenges and lessons learned from using technology as a tool for not interrupting the program, by the means of the use of virtual meetings, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disciplines

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Law

Recommended Citation

Diego Faleck, Technology and Victims' Compensation Systems: The Brumadinho Experience, 26 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 235 (2024).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol26/iss2/4