German court suspends trial of lawsuit linking Tüv Süd to Brazil Brumadinho tragedy

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After about three hours of hearing, the Higher Regional Court of Munich, Germany, suspended the trial of the civil action filed by the municipality of Brumadinho (MG) and families of victims of the 2019 tragedy against the certifier Tüv Süd. The three judges responsible for the analysis asked for more time to evaluate the case, which will have a new session in February 2022.

Tüv Süd performed the inspection that cleared the operation of Vale’s tailings dam in the Brumadinho region, which ruptured on January 25 of that year. The accident killed 270 people and released nearly 13 million cubic meters of toxic sludge into the region.

In the lawsuit, the German auditor is accused of negligence, for certifying the safety of the dam by applying verification standards that did not correspond to international levels, while allowing the dam to operate. The lawsuit is valued at least US$400 million.

“Tüv Süd at first does not recognize its guilt, but from what we have seen here in court, there is no way not to recognize its guilt, which is public and notorious. I am convinced that we will do justice,” affirmed the mayor of Brumadinho, Avimar Barcelos (PV), who participated in the hearing in Munich.

Lawyer Pedro Martins, from PGMBM, who is defending Brumadinho and family members in the lawsuit against Tüv Süd in Germany, considered the hearing “very productive” and “extremely positive”.

“Now the three judges are going to look again at the documents and at everything the defendants have said. And they will make a decision that may be partial or final. It’s difficult to predict the outcome of a case, but I was quite optimistic after what I heard at the hearing today,” said the lawyer. Tüv Süd has not yet made a statement.

TÜV SÜD

TÜVs (Technical Inspection Association) are internationally active, independent service companies from Germany and Austria that test, inspect and certify technical systems, facilities, and objects of all kinds in order to minimize hazards and prevent damages.

The TÜV companies are organized in the three large holdings TÜV Nord, TÜV Rheinland and TÜV SÜD as well as the smaller independent TÜV Thüringen, TÜV Saarland and TÜV Austria.