A Brazilian court sentenced Uber to pay one billion reais (about 190 million euros) for “collective moral damages” to the application’s drivers, after having already announced that it will appeal the decision.
The ruling of the Regional Labor Court of São Paulo, announced on Thursday, has national scope and establishes that 90% of the value of the fine is allocated to an unemployment fund, the Workers Support Fund (FAT), and the Remaining 10% to associations of drivers of digital mobility applications.
In addition, the judge forced the company to recognize the employment relationship of the drivers and register them with the authorities, under penalty of a fine of 10,000 reais (1,930 euros) per day per unregistered worker.
The decision arises in response to a lawsuit filed in 2021 by the Public Ministry of Labor, which considered during the investigations that Uber “had control” over “how the activities of the professionals should be developed,” the prosecutor’s office itself explained in a statement.
In the ruling, the judge agreed with the Prosecutor’s Office in considering that this control over the drivers was “much greater” than was known until now, with “rewards and losses for assistance or refusal, whether they are connected for the trip or not.” . according to the decision.
“The action required a dense legal analysis and, without a doubt, the largest cross-referencing of data in the history of the MPT. [Ministério Público do Trabalho] and the Labor Court,” said one of those responsible for the investigation by prosecutor Renan Kalil.
Uber announced that it will appeal the decision and will not adopt any of the measures decided by the judge until all possible legal remedies have been exhausted.
The court’s decision represents an “isolated understanding and contrary to jurisprudence” and causes “legal uncertainty,” the platform stated in a statement.
Uber has one million drivers in Brazil for more than 30 million users in around 500 cities, according to platform data corresponding to the first quarter of 2022.
Source: TSF
