Brazil's labor prosecution office, the Ministério Público do Trabalho (MPT), has filed a public civil lawsuit against Luciano Hang, owner of the Havan department store chain, seeking R$30 million in collective moral damages over alleged electoral harassment. The case is before the Labor Court in Goiânia, in central Brazil. Prosecutors point to a second case of the same kind: in 2018, the office sued Hang and Havan over political statements made to employees during that election year.

The lawsuit stems from a speech Hang gave on August 29 at the opening of a Havan store in Caldas Novas, in the state of Goiás, in which he criticized a proposal to end the 6x1 shift schedule, six days of work with a single day off, for employees hired at the new store. A video of the remarks spread widely on social media, according to InfoMoney. "You will have to find another job. Underemployment. (...) This is nothing short of an electoral swindle. They want to win your votes in October," Hang said, according to the transcript made by the MPT.

Before going to court, the MPT notified the businessman of what it viewed as a possible violation. Prosecutors argue the speech tied workers' votes in October's elections to personal losses: anyone who backed candidates favoring the end of the 6x1 schedule could be left without a job.

The requests

Beyond the R$30 million in collective moral damages, the MPT asks the court to order individual compensation of at least 20 times each affected worker's last salary. It also wants Hang to record a retraction video within 48 hours and Havan to release employees on October 4 and 25, the dates of the first and second rounds of Brazil's general elections, with no pay deduction. The lawsuit further requests a ban on new political statements at Havan stores and events and the creation of a permanent political and electoral neutrality program across the chain. Prosecutors want the Goiânia Labor Court to order the measures and to hold the company and the businessman responsible for the conduct described.

Prosecutors say the lawsuit targets the setting of the speech, delivered by an employer at an internal event for staff, and that the office has no intention of restricting the businessman's freedom of expression.

"What separates the legitimate exercise of free speech from an unlawful act is not the content of the opinion, but the presence of coercion and the power imbalance inherent in the employment relationship. Managers represent the company institutionally, and their statements are naturally read as guidance, pressure or favoritism," the prosecutors wrote in a statement released by the office.

Timeline and next steps

The sequence so far: the speech on August 29, the MPT notification that followed and, with no agreement, the lawsuit filed this week. It repeats the pattern of 2018, when the office took a similar case involving Hang and Havan to court during the election won by Jair Bolsonaro, the candidate Hang backed. According to the Federal Prosecution Office, cited by g1, electoral harassment can be a crime under Brazil's Electoral Code and may also amount to abuse of economic power. G1 also reports that the MPT has received 223 complaints of electoral harassment in 2026.

For now, the lawsuit represents the accusation brought by the MPT and has yet to be examined by a judge. No public response from Hang or Havan appears in the reports consulted. The next step is a ruling by the Goiânia Labor Court on the requested measures, which prosecutors want in force before the first round of voting on October 4.