The São Paulo Court of Justice (Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo), in ruling on Civil Appeal No. 1008172-81.2024.8.26.0127, arising from the District of Carapicuíba, established an important precedent in Family Law: infidelity, in itself, does not automatically give rise to a duty to compensate. However, when accompanied by public exposure and intent to humiliate, it may constitute compensable moral damages.
In the case at hand, the claimant had been in a stable union with the defendant for approximately twenty years, when his extramarital relationship was discovered in an abrupt and embarrassing manner. Following the separation, the former partner began publicly engaging in a relationship with the third party and, more seriously, exposed his former partner to mutual friends through offensive and disrespectful statements that directly affected her honor and dignity.
The central issue in the decision was not the infidelity itself, but the subsequent conduct—namely, the so-called “unrestricted and intentional public exposure” aimed at humiliation. In light of this, the court upheld the order requiring the defendant to pay damages for moral harm in the amount of BRL 5,500.00, reaffirming the principle that it is the violation of personality rights—not the end of the relationship—that justifies compensation.
The decision reinforces an increasingly clear line of case law: the Judiciary does not intervene to punish emotional disappointments, but rather acts in situations involving abuse, humiliating exposure, and actual harm to one’s honor.