Court Rules Against Cruise Line for Requiring HIV Test from Crew

Brazil’s Labor Court has determined that a cruise operator must compensate a former crew member after requiring an HIV test as a hiring condition, a practice the court deemed discriminatory and abusive.

In a unanimous decision, the Seventh Chamber of the Superior Labor Court (TST) ordered MSC Cruises do Brasil Ltda. and MSC Crociere SA to pay R$ 10,000 (approximately $1,800) in moral damages to a former employee who had been recruited for a bar support position aboard one of the company’s ships. The court ruled that requiring an HIV test violated the worker’s constitutional rights to privacy and personal dignity.

The employee had been hired as a bar boy, responsible for duties such as refilling beverages, cleaning bar areas and collecting used glasses. As part of the hiring process, the company mandated several medical exams, including an HIV serology test, which the TST later determined to be unlawful.

The cruise line argued that the medical testing applied to all crew members, not specifically to the individual in question. It claimed the nature of maritime employment required additional health screenings due to limited medical facilities onboard.

Lower courts initially supported the employer’s stance. The 20th Labor Court of Curitiba and the Regional Labor Court of the 9th Region (Paraná) accepted the justification that working at sea warranted stricter health protocols.

However, the worker appealed, and the Superior Labor Court reversed those rulings. Reporting Judge Minister Cláudio Brandão clarified that the testing requirement violated a Ministry of Labor ordinance explicitly prohibiting HIV testing in any employment-related medical exam, whether pre employment, periodic, return to work, job change or termination.

Brandão stressed that an HIV diagnosis has no connection to the employee’s ability to perform bar support duties, which involve no biological risk. He also rejected the argument about limited onboard medical resources, noting that such limitations do not preclude proper care for employees who are HIV positive.

The court concluded that requiring the test amounted to a discriminatory act and an infringement on the worker’s personality rights. Given the severity of the violation and previous rulings in comparable cases, compensation was set at R$ 10,000.

The unanimous decision reinforces existing protections that bar employers from imposing discriminatory medical conditions during recruitment or employment.