Caretaker is rescued after 28 years of domestic slave labor in DF; he was used as an orange in the family scheme

A 56-year-old man was rescued after 28 years of domestic slave labor and being used as an employee in five companies linked to his own employers in the Federal District.

The Labor Court has already ordered the payment of a monthly pension of one minimum wage – currently R$1,621 – to the man.

Now, the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) is asking for R$2 million in compensation, and monitoring of the social assistance network.

According to the MP, the man is from Bahia and arrived in Brasília in 1998 to work as a caretaker in a residence in Núcleo Rural Córrego do Torto, in Lago Norte. For gardening and animal care services, he received R$200 per month, did not take vacations and lived in precarious conditions, according to the complaint.

The MP also found that the worker does not have a bank account or cell phone. Furthermore, his work card remained with a family member.

The investigations began after an anonymous complaint made in August last year and resulted in an inspection by the Public Ministry of Labor in August this year.

The Labor Court has already ordered the payment of a monthly pension of one minimum wage – currently R$1,621 – to the man. Now, the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) is asking for R$2 million in compensation, and monitoring of the social assistance network, as the worker has difficulty leaving the place where he lives.

According to the MPT, the man became the majority partner and administrator of businesses that he had no knowledge of.

In one of the cases investigated, he appeared to own 90% of the company's share capital. However, to the inspection team, the caretaker said he didn't even know what a company was.

The MP also identified six judicial executions related to his name, three of them fiscal. Judge Márcio Roberto Andrade Brito, from the 10th Labor Court of Brasília, recognized, on the 15th, robust evidence of misuse of the worker's identity.

Brazilian legislation provides for four types of work in conditions similar to slavery: forced labor, exhaustive working hours, degrading conditions and debt bondage. The presence of just one of these modalities is sufficient to characterize the crime, without the need for imprisonment or physical impediment to leaving the premises.