Brazil: HSBC to pay BRL 67.5 million for spying on employees on sick leave

HSBC Brazil was sentenced to pay a fine amounting to BRL 67.5 (€22.5) for “collective moral damages” in a ruling rendered on Friday, February 7 by the labor court of Curitiba (Paraná State, south-east).  Between 1999 and 2003, the British banking group had the Centro de inteligência empresarial (CIE) surveillance company spy on 152 employees put on sick leave by the National Social Security Institute (INSS).  The public Ministry of Labor of Paraná is hoping that this ruling will have an ‘educational’ impact on other employers in the country.
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Investigations justified by the high number of employees on leave. This sentence followed legal proceedings by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor started in August 2012. The investigation started after a denunciation by the Paraná Federation of credit workers (Fetec) and the banking workers’ union of Curitiba and its surroundings. Those two organizations are affiliated with the Unified Workers’ Central (CUT), the biggest union in Brazil, which rejoiced with this ruling on February 11.


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