Brazil Superior Labor Court judicial and legislative actions

The President of Brazil’s Superior Labor Court (TST), Luiz Philippe Vieira de Mello Filho, has been involved in significant judicial and legislative commentary.

In a specific legal ruling, the TST reinstated the case of Sônia Maria de Jesus on the federal government’s “dirty list” of employers responsible for slave-like labor. This decision overturned a previous ruling by the Regional Labor Court of the 12th Region in Santa Catarina. The case involves allegations that de Jesus, a Black woman with bilateral deafness, endured conditions analogous to slavery for nearly forty years while working for a judge and his wife without wages or benefits.

Separately, Minister Vieira de Mello Filho has publicly criticized Brazil’s 2017 labor reform, characterizing it as ‘not an honest law.’ He argued that the legislative process lacked necessary dialogue with workers and deviated from International Labour Organization conventions. He further noted that the absence of specific legislation for platform-based workers has forced the judiciary to rely on the Consolidation of Labor Laws to resolve disputes in the gig economy.