The Labor Court condemned a supermarket to reinstate an employee dismissed during treatment for breast cancer. The woman had her contract terminated a month after returning to work, after returning from high social security.
The company will also have to pay compensation for off-balance sheet damages, of BRL 29,100, reimburse amounts spent on medical examinations, of BRL 1,100, in addition to compensation equivalent to wages due and falling due since the end of the notice period. until effective reintegration.
According to judge Régis Franco e Silva de Carvalho, from the Labor Court of Embu das Artes (SP), the dismissal is not only “irregular, from a labor point of view”, but also “cruel and inhumane”.
The magistrate recalls that case law presumes discriminatory dismissal of workers with cancer due to the stigma that the disease causes.
The employee had been working at the supermarket since 2012. She said she had chemotherapy sessions in 2021, after her left breast was removed. She took sick leave for about six months until 8/1/2022; and she was dismissed on 9/6/2022, when she still needed radiotherapy requested from the health plan.
The supermarket defended the legitimacy of the termination, as the woman did not enjoy stability. He also claims that the unit where the employee was working had been closed.
In his decision, the judge contested the allegation of closure of the unit, since the supermarket has other units in the Metropolitan Region: “The company should at least have offered some alternative to the employee, but chose not to do anything”.
