Court upholds compensation to bank employee for homophobic insults

The 8th Panel of the Regional Labor Court of the 2nd Region (Greater São Paulo and coastal São Paulo) confirmed the compensation for moral damages to a bank employee who suffered homophobic insults at work. Originally set at R$50,000, the amount was reduced to R$30,000 after one of the alleged moral injuries was ruled out.

The bank employee reported having been the victim of discriminatory and homophobic treatment, in addition to abusive demands for targets, which would have contributed to a mixed anxiety and depression disorder. Although the bank denied the accusations and the relationship between work and the disorder, Judge Cynthia Gomes Rosa, the rapporteur of the case, acknowledged the discrimination based on the evidence presented, including testimonies that described the offenses as “jokes.”

One of the testimonies mentioned an occasion when a security guard had threatened the bank employee, saying that he would “get shot in the face” if he continued with his behavior. The expert evidence also confirmed that the treatment he received in the workplace contributed to the worsening of the complainant’s mental illness.

To reduce the value of compensation, factors such as the intensity of suffering, the duration of the effects of the offense and the parameters of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) were considered.