![[Brazil] Mercedes-Benz fined $7.3 million for worker harassment](http://globalpayrollassociation.com/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock--191525692_1200x.jpg?v=1728429252)
In Brazil, a labour court announced that it had ordered Mercedes-Benz to pay the equivalent of $7.3 million in damages for discrimination and harassment towards workers at a factory in Sao Paulo state, BSS News reports.
On October 4, the court - in the southern city of Campinas where the factory is based - said employees who suffered workplace injuries were sidelined on their return to work and "exposed to humiliating and degrading situations," including racial discrimination.
Court documents reportedly revealed that, between 2004 and 2019, several workers at German automaker Mercedes-Benz's biggest parts distribution and logistics centre outside Germany were mistreated after suffering workplace illnesses or injuries.
On returning to work from sick leave, they were shown to have suffered "isolation, including physical isolation" and be "deprived of opportunities for promotion and salary increases after being designated a 'divergent group'."
One worker testified to being called a "monkey son of a bitch" by his boss’s colleague for being unable to carry more than five kilos of materials.
He subsequently filed a complaint with his supervisor but received a three-day suspension from work rather than seeing action taken about his complaint.
Another plaintiff, a Black man, said that when he returned to work he was assigned tasks such as serving coffee and washing the car of a manager, who ridiculed his skin colour on one occasion.
The judge rejected Mercedes-Benz's claim that the practices were "isolated incidents," reportedly stating that accepting that explanation would represent a "serious" setback for workers' rights.
Mercedes-Benz did not immediately respond to a question from AFP about the case.
Source: BSS News
(Quotes via original reporting)
In Brazil, a labour court announced that it had ordered Mercedes-Benz to pay the equivalent of $7.3 million in damages for discrimination and harassment towards workers at a factory in Sao Paulo state, BSS News reports.
On October 4, the court - in the southern city of Campinas where the factory is based - said employees who suffered workplace injuries were sidelined on their return to work and "exposed to humiliating and degrading situations," including racial discrimination.
Court documents reportedly revealed that, between 2004 and 2019, several workers at German automaker Mercedes-Benz's biggest parts distribution and logistics centre outside Germany were mistreated after suffering workplace illnesses or injuries.
On returning to work from sick leave, they were shown to have suffered "isolation, including physical isolation" and be "deprived of opportunities for promotion and salary increases after being designated a 'divergent group'."
One worker testified to being called a "monkey son of a bitch" by his boss’s colleague for being unable to carry more than five kilos of materials.
He subsequently filed a complaint with his supervisor but received a three-day suspension from work rather than seeing action taken about his complaint.
Another plaintiff, a Black man, said that when he returned to work he was assigned tasks such as serving coffee and washing the car of a manager, who ridiculed his skin colour on one occasion.
The judge rejected Mercedes-Benz's claim that the practices were "isolated incidents," reportedly stating that accepting that explanation would represent a "serious" setback for workers' rights.
Mercedes-Benz did not immediately respond to a question from AFP about the case.
Source: BSS News
(Quotes via original reporting)