Belo Horizonte court upholds dismissal for worker on medical leave

The Ninth Chamber of the Regional Labor Court of the 3rd Region (TRT-MG) has upheld the dismissal for cause of a worker in Belo Horizonte who performed services for another employer while on medical leave.

The employee had been on medical leave from July 30 to August 1, 2024, due to diarrhea and gastroenteritis. During this period, he posted updates to his WhatsApp status that included a photo of a motorcycle with the caption “Bora começar os trabalhos, né” (Let's start working, right) and a photo of a pizza with the caption “Merecido, né” (Deserved, right).

A cosmetics and personal hygiene retail company used these posts as evidence that the worker was active elsewhere during his recovery period. Although the worker challenged the dismissal in court, arguing the images did not prove serious misconduct, the court maintained the penalty. Judge Sandra Maria Generoso Thomaz Leidecker ruled that the conduct demonstrated bad faith and caused a breach of trust, noting the company acted promptly upon discovering the facts.