“Me and my friends going to sue the toxic company.” The caption of the video would be just one of the thousands published daily on the social network TikTok. It would be, if they weren’t for three people fresh out of a labor hearing in which one of them was suing the former employer, and the other two, her witnesses.
In the narration of the video there is also the expression “this is for you brand new, JT”, which, for the judge Silvia Andreoni, rapporteur of the case at TRT-2 (Regional Labor Court of the 2nd Region), can refer to the judicial body.
The debauchery and closeness between the three weighed heavily. The Labor Court in São Paulo discarded the testimonial evidence and still sentenced them for bad faith litigation (when there is an intention to deceive the Judiciary) and a fine.
The worker appealed the annulment of the testimonies, but the judges of the 8th Class of the TRT-2 understood that the video is clear about the celebration of the supposed victory.
“This is a jocular and unnecessary attitude against the company and, also, against the Labor Court itself. It also demonstrates that they were in harmony about what they wanted to obtain, in a clear demonstration of alliance, acting recklessly in the process , with bad faith being duly configured”, said judge Silvia Almeida Prado Andreoni, rapporteur of the judgment.
The worker who sued the Labor Court was a saleswoman at a jewelry store and filed a lawsuit asking for the recognition of an employment relationship from a period prior to that stated in the work card, moral damages for omission of registration and for humiliating treatment in the work environment.
Justice recognized 14 days of work recorded in August 2020. The two witnesses said that her hiring had taken place in July. For the Labor Judiciary, however, they could not attest to the start date, since they were only hired in September.
In addition to nullifying the witnesses’ testimonies, the court sentenced the three women to pay a fine of 2% on R$21,693, the amount assigned to the case, for each, in favor of the company.
The former seller of the jewelry store will also pay fees for loss of suit and expert witness, for having been a beneficiary of free justice and losing the lawsuit.
Ricardo Calcini, professor of labor law at FMU, says that the use of social media content has been accepted since the beginning of Facebook. According to him, in the case in question, the post indicates that the evidence was flawed.
“It was confirmed that these witnesses were suspects. By law, any witness, whether in favor of a worker or a company, cannot give evidence if they have a relationship that is not merely professional”, emphasizes Calcini.
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