Brazil labor courts issue rulings on sexual harassment and Amazon working conditions

Labor courts in Brazil have issued two significant rulings regarding employee rights and workplace conditions.

In Manaus, two companies were held jointly liable for paying R$ 30,000 in moral damages to a hotel housekeeper who was sexually harassed by a guest. Judge Diego Enrique Linares Troncoso applied the National Council of Justice (CNJ) protocol for anti-discriminatory and inclusive judgment, which grants special weight to the victim's testimony in sexual harassment cases where evidence is often difficult to obtain. The victim reported being touched inappropriately by a guest and was subsequently dismissed without cause following his return from leave.

In the Distrito Federal, the Labor Court ordered Amazon's logistics complex in Santa Maria to implement measures to improve working conditions for approximately 1,400 employees. Following an investigation by the Public Labor Ministry (MPT), the court ruled against practices that required staff to stand for shifts lasting up to 12 hours and handle loads up to 22 kilograms. The ruling mandates 10-minute breaks every 90 minutes of standing, enforces standard daily and weekly hour limits, and ensures that meal and snack breaks are not reduced by time spent in security queues or clocking-in procedures.