Supreme Court Justice Zanin overturns decision recognizing employment relationship between delivery driver and Rappi app

In a single-judge ruling, Justice Cristiano Zanin of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on Wednesday overturned the recognition of an employment relationship between a delivery driver and the Rappi app. The relationship had been recognized in a ruling by the Superior Labor Court (TST) in September and touches on the core of the business model of delivery platforms.

Zanin's decision responded to an appeal by Rappi, which disagreed with the Superior Labor Court's ruling. In the minister's view, the Superior Labor Court disregarded established case law on the matter.

"The complaint is admissible, as the contested decision violated binding decisions of the Supreme Federal Court," the justice wrote in his ruling. "I would like to point out that the Supreme Federal Court, based on the constitutional principles of free enterprise and free competition, held that outsourcing of any economic activity is possible, overcoming the distinction established by labor jurisprudence between core and non-core activities."

For Zanin, "by recognizing the employment relationship, the Labor Court disregarded the legal aspects related to the issue, especially the precedents of the Federal Supreme Court that enshrine economic freedom and the organization of productive activities."

App says decision 'guarantees continuity of the sector'

In a note sent to the column, Michele Volpe, director of Rappi's legal department, said that the decision "is a step towards guaranteeing the continuity of this economic sector, which was essential during the pandemic and continues to be a fundamental part of the daily lives of Brazilians."

"This is an innovative and important understanding for the Brazilian context, where the challenges of pacifying the discussion are so great that the Brazilian federal government created a Working Group to address the issue and advance a new legal framework. Within this Working Group, business associations that discuss the issue, such as the Digital Innovation Movement (MID), of which Rappi is a member, were crucial and active in the process," he added. "The sector is moving toward a new legal framework for the new way of working proposed by digital platforms, and it is important that precedents are respected in this process."

"Once again, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) confirms the inadequacy of decisions applying the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) to a relationship without any type of subordination. The STF has been adopting decisions that reinforce respect for existing binding precedents regarding the non-existence of an employment relationship for app workers," said Daniel Domingues Chiode, partner at Chiode Minicucci|Littler and Rappi's lawyer in the case, in a statement.

Article originally published on November 22, 2023 on the O Globo website.