A hearing at the labor court in Curitiba, this Thursday (24), drew attention when a representative – a person chosen to represent a company, in a process at the labor court – was caught hiding under the table, after hearing the testimony on the other side, failing to comply with a fundamental rule of the process.
In an attempt to manipulate the proceedings of a labor action, a lawyer and a company representative staged an unusual scene during a virtual hearing. Upon noticing that the windows in the background of the images of both were identical, the judge suspected that they were in the same room, which is prohibited by law.
The judge asked the lawyer to show the entire room in a 360° rotation. At that moment, the defendant hid under the table to try to trick the judge. The judge then ended the session, while the other participants were unable to contain their laughter at the unusual situation.
The practice is prohibited by the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), aiming to guarantee the impartiality of the process and prevent one party from influencing the testimony of the other. Watch the video .
True and spontaneous answers
THE CNN spoke with Juliana Mendonça, a specialist in labor law and process, who explained that by prohibiting the presence of the agent – who represents the employer and has knowledge of the case – from hearing the witness’ testimony, the law seeks to ensure that the information provided to the judge is true and spontaneous.
Article 824 of the CLT determines that the judge must take measures so that the testimony of a witness is not heard by others. The Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) establishes, in its article 385, §2, that anyone who has not yet testified is prohibited from attending the interrogation of the other party.
“This type of attitude may result in the annulment of the representative’s testimony, as he may have been influenced by the author’s testimony, which is prohibited by law. Furthermore, both the company and the agent can be condemned for bad faith litigation, as such behavior is contrary to good faith and procedural loyalty”, states Juliana Mendonça.
The representative’s peculiar attempt to hide cannot be interpreted as a defense strategy, according to the expert. For her, the attitude shows amateurism or simply unpreparedness.
“Both lawyers for companies and employees must act honestly. Just because you are in a virtual hearing does not mean you cannot respect the legislation. The presence of the representative in the same room as the lawyer during the author’s testimony is unacceptable and could compromise the entire process”, highlighted Juliana.
This content was originally published in Understand the rule that prohibits the behavior of a man who hid under the table during the hearing on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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