Labor Dispute & Family Loss—Left in Mounting Debt and Grief

DISCLAIMER: This GoFundMe is being arranged not for me but for my long term online friend Lucas from Brazil. Since Brazilian citizens are not allowed to create GoFundMe campaigns I will be organizing it on his behalf. This is all in accordance with GoFundMe's terms and guidelines.

SUMMARY:

“Due to getting scammed out of 6 months worth of pay by my boss and legal complications following my dad’s passing I am in 30,000 Brazilian reais (5300 USD) in debt. This has put me and my already mourning family in near financial ruin. In Brazil the amount owed is approx. 2 years worth of minimum wage pay. As I have exhausted all options to deal with this myself I am now hesitantly turning towards the kindness and generosity of others to help me deal with this nightmare. By donating to this gofundme you can help me and my family get back on our feet and try to move forward in life. Please read below for a detailed account of the events described in the summary. Any and all help is appreciated, even a gesture like sharing this forward would be immensely helpful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Since late 2023, I’ve been in a legal battle against my former boss to recover months of unpaid wages. I worked full-time for his company for over a year. However, as I was about to enter the second year of employment the pay checks stopped coming. My boss promised to pay at a later date, and I kept working for the company for a lack of other options. After 6 months and an inordinate amount of reminders and requests from my end, I realized that my boss was intent on not paying me for my labor. At this time I was owed 6 months worth of pay. With no other options, I had to rely on my credit card to cover basic living expenses, which is how debt started accumulating. While I eventually took legal action and won the case, my former boss made sure to clear his assets in all the places he could be reached legally. He made sure to avoid payment in every possible way. As of November 2024, the case has been suspended for a 12-month period, with no sign of it ever having a proper ending. This leaves me to figure out how to deal with this financial nightmare that has been thrusted upon me illegally by my boss.

Around the same time in late 2023, my dad was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Though initially there weren’t exorbitant medical costs thanks to brazilian public healthcare, the inheritance process became a heavy financial burden after his passing in March 2024. Lawyer fees, court taxes, and inheritance taxes on the house and car that were in his name have left my mom and me in heavy financial loss—even with the money from my dad’s bank account, which we still don't have access to after nearly a year. The legal fees ended up being much higher than we expected, and I had to personally take out a loan to help cover the costs. With this new loan added on top of my existing credit card debt, my financial situation quickly spiraled out of control.

Under normal circumstances, this entire inheritance process should have taken no more than three months. However, it has been stalled for almost 12 months due to a legal dispute with my dad’s former company, where he worked for over 20 years. They owe him—and several other employees—unpaid benefits, and because this settlement is legally considered an asset in his inheritance inventory, we cannot move forward with the process until it is resolved. Since the company has been delaying payments and ignoring court orders, the entire inheritance remains stuck in legal limbo, leaving us unable to access any of my dad’s assets.

I’ve been trying to stay afloat by covering loan installments and bills with what little I earned from short-term gigs, but as of February 2025, I don't have anything left. I am unable to keep paying this debt, as it's been extremely hard to find a stable job where the payment could cover all the bills and this overwhelming debt. What started as a modest credit card limit of just 2000 BRL (350 USD) has now spiraled into almost 30,000 BRL (5300 USD) in debt—largely due to months of unpaid wages from my former job, the prolonged legal battle, and the mounting costs tied to the inheritance process. On top of that, I’m at risk of losing the family car if the bank decides to take legal action against me due to missed payments.

The amount requested for the fundraiser is based on the current BRL/USD exchange rate as of April 03, 2025. The total amount of 29,943 BRL (roughly 5300 USD) is needed to help pay off my mounting debts and cover essential living expenses. Any help you can offer would go a long way in helping me back on my feet during this incredibly difficult time and to finally move forward after almost 2 years of legal and financial setbacks.”