Change in law makes harassment generate suspension of lawyers – 07/11/2023 – Power

It was supposed to be a job interview at a law firm in São Paulo. Upon entering the room, lawyer Ana Carolina Lourenço says she was looked at from head to toe by the owner of the bank. He closed the door and walked towards her.

The professional escaped the abuse after screaming for help. The episode took place in 2013 and for months Ana Carolina reports that she was afraid to participate in selection processes.

A year earlier, when working in an office that only hired women, she says she saw several colleagues being sexually harassed by male bosses, who gave vodka and energy drinks to employees after 10 pm.

After the two experiences, Ana Carolina, who is a black woman, faced discrimination when undergoing the hair transition process, in 2018. One of the partners at the bank where she worked expressed astonishment when seeing her with her hair braided.

“We need to name harassment, because in several experiences I’ve had throughout my life, I thought it was natural. We need to know what it is to be able to fight it”, says she, today vice president of the Commission for Women Lawyers at OAB-SP (Brazilian Bar Association).

On the 3rd, President Lula (PT) sanctioned a law that amends the Statute of Advocacy to make moral harassment, sexual harassment and discrimination against interns, lawyers and professionals at the service of the law an ethical-disciplinary infraction.

Cases like those reported by Ana Carolina committed from that date may be punished with suspension for a period of 30 days to one year, as decided by Ted (Court of Ethics and Discipline) of the OAB sections.

The text authored by congresswoman Laura Carneiro (PSD-RJ) was conceived by the Order’s National Commission for Women Lawyers, chaired by lawyer Cristiane Damasceno.

She claims that there is still no data on the problem. In the last year, the OAB launched a channel for complaints, but Cristiane says that there is still a lot of suspicion about whether the episodes will be punished.

“We had almost 50 complaints that we forwarded to our ethics courts so that they could verify whether that could be classified as a generic infraction that existed before the law came into force. That was largely up to the judges. With the arrival of the law, we will to have statistics on the arrival of applications”, he says.

The lawyer explains that the classification was made through the infraction of “infamous crime”, which ranges from crimes against honor to cases of homicide and forgery.

“If the person who judges understands that harassment is not an infamous crime, because it is a generic expression, it would end up not having the harasser punished. That was our big discussion”, he says.

Those who suffer harassment or discrimination must gather evidence and make a request that first goes through the sectional admissibility committee, where it will be verified whether the complaint has evidence of authorship and materiality to generate accountability.

Accepted cases are forwarded to an ethics court rapporteur, who will subpoena the accused to present the defense. After that there is a first decision, but appeals can be presented to the plenary of the state ethics court and then to the national OAB.

Brazil has more than 1.3 million registered lawyers and almost 13 thousand law interns. Women make up more than half of both groups.

In 2021, Datafolha research showed that a third of female lawyers reported having already suffered sexual harassment linked to their workplaces, by colleagues, bosses, clients or others.

A study by the research group Carmin Feminismo Jurídico, from the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Alagoas, in April 2022, obtained 191 reports from lawyers from all states through an online questionnaire.

Among the interviewees, almost 81% said they had already felt threatened in the exercise of their profession because of their gender or that of the client.

One of those responsible for the research, lawyer Soraia Mendes, says that the concept of gender lawfare was created by her and lawyer Isadora Dourado to show the use of judicial processes to intimidate women in the area.

“Harassing female lawyers and placing them in a condition of contempt is part of the day-to-day practice of law for women”, she says.

In São Paulo, lawyer Ana Lúcia Dias, who works with a gender perspective in the defense of women and mothers in family and civil cases, says that her personal address and telephone number were exposed in April by the defense of a former client. She also began to respond to lawsuits in the criminal sphere and in the OAB ethics court.

“This affected me and my children a lot. How do you sleep knowing there’s a person on the street with your home address?”, he says.

Ana Lúcia says that the case has been monitored by the prerogatives commission of the OAB São Paulo.

This year, the sectional received three complaints of harassment through the 24-hour channel “advocacy without harassment”, in partnership with the company Deloitte. Communication can be done through the website, by email or by phone.

“It’s still a small universe compared to what we know happens in the day-to-day practice of the profession. With this tool and the change in our statute, we hope to better monitor these cases of harassment and provide support to lawyers”, he says. the general secretary of OAB-SP, Daniela Magalhães.

Another expectation with the new law is the speed of the processes, which usually take years, says the lawyer.

In addition to the suspension, Daniela says that complaints are sent to Caasp (Caixa de Assistência dos Advogados de São Paulo), so that the victim receives psychological care, and to the Public Ministry, for accountability in the Judiciary.

Criminalist Carolina Carvalho de Oliveira, partner at Campos & Antonioli Advogados Associados, says that harassment and discrimination can have consequences in the criminal, civil and, in certain situations, labor spheres. The complaint can be made by anyone, by the victim or even by the OAB.

Testimonies, expert examinations and lawful recordings can serve as evidence, especially in cases that are more difficult to punish, he adds.

“Moral harassment and discrimination are acts that may not leave apparent traces that are easy to prove, contrary to what most often happens in a case of sexual harassment”, says Carolina.

What law nº 14.612/2023 says:

Bullying: the conduct practiced in the professional exercise or because of it, through the deliberate repetition of gestures, spoken or written words or behaviors that expose the intern, the lawyer or any other professional who is providing their services to humiliating and embarrassing situations, capable of cause offense to the personality, dignity and psychic or physical integrity, with the aim of excluding them from their duties or emotionally destabilizing them, deteriorating the professional environment;

Sexual harassment: conduct with a sexual connotation practiced in professional practice or because of it, manifested physically or by words, gestures or other means, proposed or imposed on the person against his will, causing him embarrassment and violating his sexual freedom;

Discrimination: commissive or omissive conduct that dispenses embarrassing or humiliating treatment to a person or group of people, due to their disability, belonging to a certain race, color or sex, national or regional origin, ethnic origin, condition of being pregnant, lactating or nursing, age age, religion or other factor.”

Punishment: suspension of the offender from professional practice, throughout the national territory, for a period of 30 days to 12 months.