Prosecutor seeks conviction of former Caixa president for harassment

The MPT (Public Ministry of Labour) asked this Thursday (29) that the Justice condemn the former president of Caixa Econômica Federal Pedro Guimarães to pay R$ 30.5 million for the practices of sexual, moral harassment and discrimination against employees of the Bank.

The action also asks that each of the members of the company’s Board of Directors be sentenced to pay just over R$ 3 million for “the failure to supervise the acts of the state’s directors”.

As for the bank, the MPT requests the Court to pay R$ 305 million “for the omission in the investigation of such acts” and for joint and several liability. The action is signed by labor prosecutor Paulo Neto.

In all three cases, payment must be made as compensation for collective moral damages. The MPT asks that the money be reverted to a fund intended for the protection of workers’ rights.

Guimarães’ defense claims that the action is electoral. “The Public Ministry, in a hasty way and on the eve of the election, judges a manifestly unfounded and electoral action”, say lawyers José Luis Oliveira Lima and Luís Augusto Canedo.

“Pedro Guimarães, who along with his team won all the awards during his tenure at Caixa Econômica Federal, categorically denies the practice of any irregular act”, they add.

Guimarães left the presidency of Caixa in June after being denounced by a group of employees. The case was revealed by the website Metrópoles. The reports point out, among other actions, unwanted touches and inappropriate invitations.

In a statement, Caixa and the Board of Directors stated that “they have taken all the necessary measures to investigate the complaints, protect the complainants, the bank’s employees and the institution itself” since they became aware of the accusations, and that “they do not tolerate any type of of misconduct” of directors or employees.

The bank also listed four actions that were taken after the allegations surfaced: hiring an external auditor on June 30; the formation of an independent committee to investigate the allegations; linking the internal affairs department to the Board of Directors in search of greater independence; and the strengthening of the whistleblower channel “with professionals specialized in welcoming potential victims”.

as showed the Sheet, the first internal complaint against the executive was registered in July 2019, when he had only been in office for six months. Before Guimarães left the presidency, Caixa channels had already received six complaints: two in 2019 (in July and September); one in 2020 (in November); and three in 2021 (one in September and two in December).

According to the public civil action filed this Thursday, the first anonymous complaint said that Guimarães harassed high-ranking employees at events, offices, garages and inside a Caixa car.

The case, according to the MPT, was stopped for almost two months and was closed, for “insufficient information”. The prosecutor states, however, that the form made available on the internal channel for receiving complaints “demonstrates that there was more than enough information to start an investigation”.

“Therefore, Caixa’s conclusion that the complaint did not present minimal information is not valid. It is a sophistry to hide the real intention of Caixa Econômica Federal not to investigate its president. With this conduct, Caixa failed to take the necessary measures. necessary to avoid the degradation of working conditions.”

The prosecutor claims that Caixa “has not taken any steps to investigate this complaint”, has not forwarded the report to the bank’s Ethics Commission or to the Public Ethics Commission, linked to the Presidency of the Republic. Paulo Neto also says that the bank, when questioned by the MPT, did not report that the complaint was for sexual harassment.

Another complaint, filed in May of this year – shortly before the scandal became public – claimed that Guimarães took advantage of travel to sexually harass female employees. Also according to the complaint, many victims were afraid to report.

Witnesses heard by the Public Ministry of Labor also reported episodes of moral harassment. In the action, the prosecutor claims that the annual average of leaves increased by 27% in the management of Guimarães – it went from 277, between 2013 and 2018, to 354, between 2019 and 2022.

The number of complaints, according to the document, went from 131 in 2018 to 363 in 2019, the year in which the former president arrived at the bank. “There was a significant increase in cases of harassment at Caixa during the administration of ex-president Pedro Duarte Guimarães, justifying the high number of social security removals mentioned in the previous item”, he says.

The MPT also determines the allocation of senior executives to tasks for those who are starting their careers at the bank, as shown by the Sheet. The investigation has been open since 2020.