Analysis of the decisions handed down by the Tribunal Regional do Trabalho da 2° Região (TRT2) on the application of dismissal for fair to workers who, unjustifiably, refuse to receive the vaccine against COVID-19 Mery Elen da Silva Scalia Carvalho

Abstract

The present study aims to examine how the Regional Labor Court of the 2nd Region (TRT2) has been evaluating the application of dismissal for just cause to workers who, unjustifiably, refused to receive the vaccine against COVID-19. Judgments handed down in cases distributed between 01/17/2021 and 10/22/2022 were analyzed. Based on an inductive analysis, it appears that, in the opinion of most groups in the Court, the individual right to health self-determination must be subjugated to the social right to health and to the prevailing technical and scientific knowledge in society. There is, however, no consensus as to the legal basis of these dismissals for just cause. The decisions are shallow, moreover, regarding the analysis of the specificities of each case.