The Labor Court of Mato Grosso has ordered the multinational food group BRF to pay compensation to an employee who went into labor during working hours, was not authorized to go to a hospital, and ended up losing her twin daughters, who were born at the company’s headquarters. The case occurred in April 2024, but the court decision was handed down this week. The case was reported by g1 and confirmed by UOL.
What happened
BRF was ordered to pay the worker R$150,000 in moral damages. In addition to the compensation amount, the 2nd Labor Court of Lucas do Rio Verde also determined that the company pay severance pay to the employee such as advance notice, 13th salary, vacation, FGTS plus a 40% fine and ensure that she has access to unemployment insurance. The sentence was handed down by Judge Fernando Galisteu on Monday.
The employee, who is a 32-year-old black woman, originally from Venezuela but living in Brazil, worked at a BRF meatpacking plant in the city of Lucas do Rio Verde. On the day of the incident, she, already in her eighth month of pregnancy, was at work at around 3:40 am, when she began to go into labor and sought out the unit’s management, but was not given permission to leave and seek medical help.
The court highlighted the fact that the worker was prevented from seeking medical help to deliver her baby. “With intense pain, nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath, she sought help from her immediate supervisor and supervisor. Even after repeated requests, she was prevented from leaving the sector [where she worked] due to the operation of the production line,” says an excerpt from the decision.
The woman remained at work, but the pain increased; she asked for leave again, but it was denied again. She then decided to leave work on her own to go to a hospital.
A Venezuelan woman was waiting for the bus at a stop in front of the company when her amniotic sac broke and she had to give birth at BRF headquarters. Her first daughter died shortly after being born at around 6:30 am. The second baby was born minutes later, but also died at the scene.
BRF denied having been negligent in not allowing the employee to leave her workplace to seek medical care. In the legal proceedings, the company claimed that the employee did not have a high-risk pregnancy and that she had allegedly refused to receive medical care from the company, which the court rejected. According to Fernando Galisteu, “it does not seem credible to assume that the worker, in her weakened condition and eight months pregnant with twins, would refuse to go to the defendant’s medical center, as the company’s defense claims.”
The company also said that the woman gave birth to the stillborn twins outside the perimeter of the unit. The justification was contested by images from BRF’s own security cameras, which showed that the woman gave birth to her daughters inside the meatpacking plant.
Testimonies collected during the investigation corroborated the version presented by the Venezuelan woman. According to the court ruling, it was proven that, although she sought help, the employee did not have access to the company’s Specialized Service in Safety Engineering and Occupational Medicine. A health technician at the site said that she was not called to deal with the case. The nurse responsible for the medical area of the unit also testified that the protocol was not followed.
The judge stated that BRF was “negligently negligent in not providing medical care with the necessary speed”. The decision also highlights that the worker did not receive medical care from the company’s structure, in addition to having been subjected to “undeniable suffering and humiliation”.
BRF had dismissed the employee on the grounds that she had abandoned her job by not returning to work after her maternity leave period ended. For this reason, the company did not pay the Venezuelan employee the severance pay. However, the judge refuted the claim of abandonment of employment, given that “the defendant’s serious and unjustifiable omission is sufficient to make the maintenance of the [employment] relationship unbearable, characterizing just cause on the part of the employer.” Therefore, the company must also pay the Venezuelan employee the severance pay according to her length of service. She had been with the company since 2023.
The decision can be appealed. BRF’s press office told UOL that it ” does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.” When asked whether it will appeal the decision, the company did not respond. The report is trying to contact the Venezuelan woman’s defense. The space remains open for comment.