Limits to Negotiated Accountability of Economic Accomplices: The Case of Volkswagen do Brasil

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article critically analyzes the agreement signed in 2020 between Volkswagen do Brasil and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which marked the closure of previous civil claims filed by a group of employees who were victims of gross violations of their human rights and alleged the complicity of the company during the dictatorship in Brazil. The conclusions challenge the triumphant story provided by both the State and the company itself and highlight the dark side of using negotiated agreements in the context of civil litigation as a way to achieving guarantees of justice, truth, memory, reparation, and non-repetition.