Reporting by Ricardo Brito, Reuters
BRASILIA
Energiesnet.com 06 29 2023
A Brazilian top court judge asked on Tuesday to review an appeal won earlier this week by state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) in a labor case, again throwing into question whether the company will have to pay its workers billions of dollars.
In a rare move, Justice Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli requested a review of Petrobras’ appeal a day after the majority of justices, including Toffoli himself, voted to annul the 2018 conviction of the company for failing to meet the terms of its minimum salary remuneration agreement with employees.
Toffoli said he wanted the review in order to analyze the appeal process.
Although all the justices have already voted, the technical deadline for the virtual trial ends on Friday.
Having requested a review, there are three paths Toffoli could now take. The first is to keep the same vote, enshrining Petrobras’ victory. The second would be to follow the opposing vote by Justice Rosa Weber, which would tie the judgment.
In this case, the Supreme Court provides for some tie-breaking solutions, such as the casting vote of the president of the group.
Toffoli’s third alternative would be to send the process to be analyzed by the main plenary of the court, with all 11 justices.
The company is liable to pay at least 17 billion reais ($3.57 billion) in salary corrections if the appeal is sent to a re-vote and it loses.
Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sonali Paul
reuters.com 06 27 2023
