Hospital directors accused of labor harassment in Uruguay

Two female employees and a supervisor at Uruguay's Hospital del Cerro have filed labor harassment complaints against two of the institution's directors. The complaints, obtained by El País, were lodged with the ASSE Labor Harassment Technical Commission.

Two of the three complaints target Sylvia Cabrera, the administrative director. The third complaint includes Guilherme Abib, the hospital director. One complainant stated that during her supervisor's leave, she experienced alleged harassment from Cabrera. The supervisor, upon returning from leave, reported experiencing "labor harassment and mistreatment" from both Abib and Cabrera.

The supervisor detailed that Abib spoke to her in a "completely disrespectful and out-of-place" tone, accusing her of a "very serious mistake" in an email to her team. Cabrera reportedly joined in, claiming the email caused "imbalances and inconveniences" in the service and speaking to the supervisor with similar "aggression, disrespect, and shouting, making accusations against me for that email."

The supervisor recounted that when she tried to explain that her department reported to the hospital director, not the administrative director, both Abib and Cabrera told her to "shut up because they were talking." This "situation of attack" lasted several minutes and caused her "great anguish and emotional decompensation," leading her to leave the meeting "crying."

Separately, two employees accused Cabrera of "changing schedules," making calls "outside of working hours," and mistreatment during their supervisor's leave. They indicated their functional dependence was on the technical director, not the administrative one, which reportedly "annoyed" Cabrera. One employee reported that during a meeting, Cabrera repeatedly raised her voice, interrupted, and questioned her role and work.