Carrefour Brazil ordered to pay R$200,000 for unlawful dismissal of 100 workers in Itabuna

A Brazilian labor court ruled that the Carrefour Group must pay R$200,000 in moral damages for dismissing more than 100 employees at its Itabuna store without prior collective bargaining. The judgment, issued by the 4th Labor Court of Itabuna on June 14, also obliges all eight companies in the group – including Bompreço, Atacadão and Big Brasil – to negotiate a collective agreement before any future mass layoffs and to provide necessary information to unions.

The Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) filed the civil public action after the company announced the store closure and dismissed 107 workers without consulting the workers' union. Carrefour appealed the decision, seeking clarification on certain points, but the ruling stands unless it is overturned on appeal.