Brazilian authorities have launched a lawsuit against Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD and two of its partner firms over claims of severe labor violations during the construction of an electric vehicle factory in the northeastern state of Bahia.
The allegations involve human trafficking and working conditions that Brazilian law classifies as “analogous to slavery.”
The case centers on a construction site in the city of Camaçari, where prosecutors say 220 Chinese laborers were subjected to inhumane conditions. The Public Labour Prosecutor’s Office (MPT) began investigating after receiving an anonymous tip and says that an inspection uncovered serious abuses.
The lawsuit, filed by the MPT, demands 257 million Brazilian reais, or about $45.5 million, in damages from BYD and its two contractors. The prosecutors claim that workers lived in cramped, unsanitary housing, some sleeping on bare bed frames, and that 31 people shared a single toilet. Officials halted construction of the site in late 2023 after confirming the poor conditions.
Investigators say workers had their passports confiscated and were bound by illegal contracts. They reportedly endured excessively long workdays without proper rest and had up to 70% of their wages withheld. Leaving their jobs required paying large penalties, a practice linked to debt bondage, which meets Brazil’s definition of conditions akin to modern slavery.
The factory in Camaçari was set to be BYD’s first electric vehicle plant outside Asia and was originally scheduled to open by March 2025. The project is now under scrutiny, threatening the company’s expansion plans in Latin America’s biggest economy.
BYD, one of the largest EV producers globally, has not commented directly on the lawsuit but has previously stated that it upholds a strict zero-tolerance stance on human rights violations. The company, whose name stands for Build Your Dreams, recently surpassed Tesla in EV sales in Europe and has been investing heavily in Brazil, where it operates a separate facility in São Paulo for electric bus components.
As the legal case unfolds, it casts a shadow over BYD’s international operations and raises fresh concerns about labor practices within global supply chains. Brazilian authorities say they are committed to protecting workers, regardless of nationality, and ensuring that foreign investments comply with local labor laws.