In statements collected by the (National Council of Justice), employees of the Court of Justice said that judge Luis César de Paula Espíndola made “repeatedly sexualized comments” and reported having made a pact to prevent any of them from being alone with the magistrate.
The reports come from an inspection carried out by the CNJ, which became partially public on Tuesday (14), due to the administrative disciplinary process against Espíndola. The names of the victims have been preserved. The council’s report says there were “several” statements with similar content, but did not specify the number.
In addition to mentioning the judge’s statements about bodies and clothes, they cited an episode in which he allegedly placed his hand on an employee’s thigh and another in which he bit another’s buttocks when she was climbing a ladder to get a book.
Lawyer Amazonas Francisco do Amaral, responsible for Espíndola’s defense, stated in a note that he was unaware of the content of the CNJ’s decision that resulted in the opening of disciplinary proceedings “because his right to participate in the trial was restricted”.
He stated that he will adopt “the appropriate measures within the scope of the respective administrative procedure, aiming to reestablish the rights and prerogatives guaranteed to him by the Constitution.” In the note, the defense does not comment on the employees’ statements.
Espíndola has been away from TJ-PR since July last year, by decision of the CNJ.
The disciplinary process was opened by the councilors unanimously because, on July 3, 2024, during a session he presided over, Espíndola stated that. The judge’s statement was given during the trial of a case of harassment by a teacher against a 12-year-old girl.
At the time, he said he had no intention of “disparaging female behavior.”
When reading his vote in favor of opening the disciplinary process, the inspector Mauro Campbell summarized the statements collected during the inspection, as did the president of the OAB in Paraná, Luiz Fernando Pereira, who gave oral arguments in the plenary. The entity was the author of the disciplinary complaint.
“This specific case is just the tip of the iceberg of this gentleman’s career at the TJ, which was revealed by the CNJ’s redemptive inspection. Servers and advisors were heard who reported what everyone knew. Even the stones of the court knew the judge’s actions”, said Pereira.
In statements collected during the inspection, the servers said that there was a “survival protocol” between them. The agreement was that they would never be alone with the judge, as they feared sexual harassment.
Still according to the testimonies, the magistrate used to make misogynistic references about the servants’ clothes and bodies. Among the examples cited are: “And those exposed legs? How hot they are. And those big breasts?” According to them, he also invited advisors to work at his residence and said there was a room next to his for them.
“Soon after the CNJ finished this inspection, he took his advisors to celebrate, because he thought he hadn’t been caught, he didn’t know the statements. And, celebrating, he put his hands on the thighs of the advisor next to him. The passage of his hand on the thigh is from May of this year. The bite on the butt is from 1998. Where did we go wrong?”, continued Pereira.
“There is a flaw in the reception system, which these deponents said. When they tried to report it, they were dissuaded by the environment that should receive the complaints. This case should create a parameter for action”, defended the lawyer.
The TJ-PR stated, in a note, that it “will provide all necessary clarifications to the CNJ”.
Counselor Renata Gil added this Tuesday that the case highlights the importance of courts maintaining anti-harassment committees that “are in fact efficient” and stated that “the time that these illegal acts were allegedly carried out is clear to our eyes.”
“The Court of Justice of Paraná needed to have followed this case closely, with its harassment committee. That is why I now ask that the TJ not only monitor these victims, and there were many victims, of moral harassment and sexual violence. Within the CNJ, we will also carry out unprecedented monitoring of this case”, said Gil.
Campbell stated that the inspection brings “very serious allegations”, which indicate that it was “common for the judge to make sexualized comments in public”.
“Their conduct highlights a pattern of behavior marked by misogynistic content and manifestations of symbolic violence against women in direct violation of the constitutional principles of human dignity, gender equality and respect for fundamental guarantees with concrete consequences that are expressly harmful to civil servants and other people who have daily and occasional contact within the scope of TJ-PR”, he said.
