Convicted by the Labor Court, a company and partner from Lagoa Formosa, in Alto Paranaíba, will have to pay R$100,000 for collective moral damages. Process points to threat of dismissal, promise of benefits and pressure through videos that linked jobs to a candidate's victory in 2022.
A company and its partner were ordered to pay R$100,000 for electoral harassment in Lagoa Formosa. The Eighth Panel of the TRT-MG upheld the decision.
The Public Ministry of Labor took action after complaints that the company threatened employees with dismissal and promised benefits such as a 14th salary.
Even after the recommendation notification, the company stuck fleets and the partner held meetings to pressure workers to support their preferred candidate.
Videos posted on Facebook showed direct messages from the owner to employees. He linked the maintenance of jobs to the victory of a specific candidate.
The rapporteur highlighted that the position of the accused increased the economic dependence of employees in Lagoa Formosa, a municipality with 18,904 inhabitants in 2022.
An agribusiness company and its majority shareholder, in Lagoa Formosa, in Alto Paranaíba, were ordered to pay R$100,000 in collective moral damages for carrying out electoral harassment against employees during the 2022 presidential elections. According to the Labor Court, they coerced employees and promised benefits, such as a 14th salary, to influence votes for a specific candidate.
The civil action was filed by the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT). In July 2024, the Patos de Minas Labor Court condemned the company and the partner, who appealed the decision. In February 2025, the Eighth Panel of the Regional Labor Court of Minas Gerais (TRT-MG) unanimously rejected the appeal and upheld the conviction.
In addition to compensation, the decision determined that those convicted should not repeat similar practices, under penalty of new fines. After payment of the labor debt, the case was definitively archived.
When announcing the conviction this Tuesday (29), the TRT-MG did not disclose the names of the defendants.
Employee Perks and Coercion
The Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) proposed the action following a complaint received by the Labor Attorney's Office of Patos de Minas. According to the complaint, the company and the partner were pressuring employees to vote for a specific candidate, under threat of dismissal and with promises of benefits, such as the payment of a 14th salary.
According to the process, the company received a recommendatory notification, a formal document that warns about conduct contrary to legislation.
Even so, a new complaint pointed out that the company stuck its fleet with political advertising and that the majority shareholder held meetings and used videos published on social media to pressure employees to support the candidate of their preference.
The process details that videos published on Facebook showed direct messages from the partner to employees, relating the future of the company and the maintenance of jobs to the victory of a specific candidate in the 2022 presidential elections.
Election harassment
According to the TRT-MG, judge José Nilton Ferreira Pandelot highlighted that the practices adopted represented an attempt to interfere with the political convictions of employees, violating fundamental constitutional rights, such as freedom of choice and the dignity of workers.
According to the judge, the conduct was aggravated by the position of power exercised by the convicts, who took advantage of the employees' economic vulnerability to exert political pressure.
The rapporteur also highlighted the economic and social relevance of the company in Lagoa Formosa, a municipality that had 18,904 inhabitants, according to a survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) carried out in 2022. For the judge, this context increases the economic and social dependence of employees on the employer.
Still according to the rapporteur, even without a record of punishments actually applied to workers, the attempt to direct votes to a candidate preferred by those convicted is enough to characterize electoral harassment.
Collective moral damages
By maintaining the conviction for collective moral damages, the rapporteur reinforced the importance of punitive and educational measures to combat electoral harassment practices.
According to the understanding adopted in the decision, the damage caused goes beyond the individual sphere and affects the entire community, compromising values essential to the Democratic Rule of Law, such as political freedom and respect for universal suffrage.
The value of the compensation, set at R$100,000, was maintained due to its punitive and educational nature, in addition to the economic capacity of the convicts. The decision also confirmed the obligation not to repeat similar practices, under penalty of a fine.
