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The judge granted an injunction considering that the decision that limited the number of cases the lawyer could handle could impact the entire organization of the work of the company's legal department, with the possibility of irreversibly affecting other employees.

From the Editors

 

Saturday, July 13, 2024

 

Updated at 16:16

 

Judge Ana Paula , of the 5th chamber of the TRT of the 15th region, granted a preliminary injunction to  suspending the limitation of cases assigned to a lawyer with burnout imposed by a first-instance ruling. The judge considered that the decision limiting the cases could impact the entire organization of the work of the company's legal department, with the possibility of affecting other employees irreversibly.

 

The case originated in the 6th Labor Court of  Preto/SP, which recognized the existence of an occupational disease in a lawyer diagnosed with burnout syndrome. The ruling determined that the company should not assign more than 500 cases to the lawyer, under penalty of a daily fine of R$3,000.

 

 

 will have to limit lawsuits and compensate lawyer with burnout

 

The company appealed, arguing that the ruling would compromise the employer's power of direction and management, affecting the organization of work in the company's legal department and impacting other employees.  requested that the ordinary appeal filed against the ruling be granted a stay of execution.

 

The judge, when granting the injunction, highlighted that urgent relief must be granted when there are elements that demonstrate the probability of the right and the danger of damage or risk to the useful result of the process, in accordance with article 300 of the CPC.

 

She considered that the imposed limitation would irreversibly compromise the organization of work in the company's legal department, justifying the suspension of the measure until the final judgment of the appeal.

 

The decision highlighted that the preliminary measure is instrumental in nature and aims to ensure the usefulness and effectiveness of the future jurisdictional provision, without immediately satisfying the substantive right. The rapporteur acknowledged the plausibility of the substantive right invoked and the risk of harm to the useful outcome of the proceedings.

 

With the granting of the preliminary injunction, a suspensive effect was attributed to the ordinary appeal filed , suspending the order limiting the number of cases assigned to the lawyer until the final judgment of the appeal. 

 

Access the decision .

 

Lawyer had limit of 500 cases granted in first instance; judge overturned in preliminary injunction. 

remember

 

In this case, the lawyer said that he was admitted in June 2012 as an analyst at Júnior - and, in mid-May 2021, after falling ill, he sought psychiatric treatment, having been diagnosed with burnout syndrome and indicated to be away from work for 90 days.

 

According to the worker, when he returned to work he was subjected to a higher volume of cases than before his absence and suffered moral harassment.  The lawyer highlighted that attempts to balance the number of cases in order to preserve his health and mental capacity were not met; on the contrary, he was treated aggressively and subjected to excessive extra demands and exposed to all his coworkers.

 

Finally, the worker argued that, in 2022, he began to handle 800 cases during two weeks, when in 2013 he handled 350 cases. After managing to temporarily limit the number of cases to 500, the remaining cases were distributed to other lawyers, overloading the team and creating discomfort.

 

When analyzing the case, the first instance judge found an expert opinion that concluded that the work contributed significantly and intensely to the worsening of the mental disorder presented and the health conditions.

 

The judge also cited the worker's hearing: "(...) the author's outburst, in his personal testimony, full of strong emotions that are still remembered by this judge, months after the labor hearing in which said testimony was collected."

 

For the judge, in addition to not resolving the chronic problem of its labor lawyers, the company increased their suffering, as they now also had to deal with civil cases.

 

"If the ideal is a maximum of 500 cases and the company, including through work redistribution, passes on 800 - or more - cases to some lawyers, this implies a huge increase of 60% in the lawyers' workload. It's that simple!"

 

Burnout

 

When analyzing the evidence in the case, the judge highlighted that it was already clear that the worker was exhausted and exhausted by the amount of work and the way it was increasing, and that the cause of his exhaustion was directly related to all of this.

 

The judge noted that the expert concluded that "it is possible that the author will once again present incapacity, if he is again responsible for the previous number of cases".

 

According to the judge, in order to identify the causes of burnout syndrome, it is necessary to carry out not only the worker's anamnesis, but mainly the "anamnesis" of their work environment, as a whole, including the quantity of services, the goals, the demands for their achievement, the interpersonal relationships in the work environment and, even, the working day.

 

"If there are no significant extra-work causes contributing to the emergence of the worker's mental illness - excluding genetic factors, which are very abstract - and if there is robust evidence that factors in the work environment are decisive for the worker's mental exhaustion, there can be no other conclusion than that this worker really does suffer from burnout syndrome."

 

In view of this, the judge determined that the company should proceed with the distribution of cases among the lawyers, not exceeding the number of 500 cases, and that it should pay compensation for moral damages in the amount of R$200,000 and a temporary monthly pension, in the amount corresponding to the remuneration at the time, due during the period of social security leave.

 

Case :  0010405-39.2022.5.15.0113

 

 link: https://www.migalhas.com.br/quentes/411222/desembargadora-suspende-limite-de-processos-de-advogado-com-burnout