After protest in Rio, Americanas says there is no dismissal process

A group of Americanas employees and unions held a demonstration this Friday morning (3) in front of an old company store, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. In the act, protesters mentioned above-normal layoffs for this time of year and said they feared the loss of labor rights.

Americanas stated that it is complying with all labor obligations. According to the company, there may be restructuring in the staff, which currently reaches around 44,000 people, but no dismissal process has been initiated. So far, Americanas has only informed that it has interrupted some contracts with companies providing outsourced services.

This week, Judge Andrea Palma, of the Court of Justice of São Paulo, requested the seizure of e-mails from current and former executives of Americanas, at the request of Bradesco. However, Judge Alexandre de Carvalho Mesquita, from the 2nd Business Court of Rio de Janeiro, refused the request. According to him, the Justice of SP has no competence to determine search and seizure in another region.

The company is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro and filed for judicial recovery in the same state last month, in the face of the crisis generated by the discovery of an accounting gap.

Americanas saw its shares plummet in the market and faces a series of investigations after announcing inconsistencies of around 20 billion reais in accounting. The company is now in the so-called “shielding period”, a period of 180 days in which all its debts are suspended. But the banks in which Americanas has debts continue with the lawsuits.