Assédio moral nas relações de trabalho: a dificuldade da prova

Abstract

Moral harassment in labor relations is a phenomenon which causes the degradation of the workplace, the breach of the workers' human dignity, in addition to countless other damages, which should be properly remedied by the employer. This phenomenon may occur through the practice of various behaviors that configure genuine psychological abuse. As these aggressions may take place very subtly, it is common that the fact remains only in the victim and harrasser's realm of knowledge. The actual psychological nature of this phenomenon as well as the frequent covert and stealth form how it happens entail difficulties in collecting elements which may be used as evidence in an eventual lawsuit sponsored by the harmed employee. The central target of this study is the evidentiary procedure problem concerned to moral harassment. In order to better understand the issues involving labor claims concerned to moral harassment, we analyze the main aspects of this phenomenon, such as its concept, its characterizing elements, its different forms, its consequences and its relation to the legal system in force. Considering the powers of the labor courts concerning to claims that arise from the midst of an employment relationship, it is necessary to check the outlines of evidence in the context of this specialized courts, identifying the evidences and evidentiary principles applicable to labor demands. Considering the hardships encountered by the victim to yield proof of moral harassment in work relationships, we bring to the fore the importance of the involvement of judges in the procedure direction, which is why this study focuses on the ways in which the Judiciary can settle issues involving mainly burden of proof and assessment of evidence, so that the mishaps in the statement of harassment behaviors do not impede the effective harmed worker's rights protection.