By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazilian fintech StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE) dismissed roughly 370 employees on Tuesday (10), according to estimates from worker reports, prompting a labor lawsuit from a union seeking reinstatement of the affected staff.
The layoffs occurred less than two weeks after Stone completed the sale of software company Linx to TOTVS SA (B3: TOTS3), according to a report by Valor Econômico. The company has not confirmed the number of dismissals.
Stone had between 12,000 and 15,000 employees prior to the move, meaning the layoffs represent about 3% of its workforce. The cuts affected multiple departments across the organization.
In a statement, Stone described the decision as part of an internal restructuring aimed at efficiency gains.
“The company carried out a targeted adjustment to its structure as part of a continuous process of simplification and efficiency improvement. Operations continue normally, with no impact on customers or partners,” the company said.
The Union of Information Technology Workers of the State of São Paulo (SINDPD) has filed a collective civil action in the São Paulo Labor Court requesting the immediate reinstatement of the dismissed employees and the suspension of further collective layoffs without prior negotiation.
The lawsuit was filed against several entities within the Stone group, including Buy4 Processamento de Pagamento, Pagar.me Pagamentos, TAG Tecnologia para o Sistema Financeiro and Stone Cartões Instituição de Pagamento.
According to the union’s filing, the layoffs occurred while negotiations were underway for the 2026 collective labor agreement.
“We were surprised by the premeditated and deceitful conduct of mass dismissal of approximately 400 workers without prior negotiation with the union and during the course of negotiations for the 2026 collective labor agreement,” the union said in the document.
The union argues the layoffs may violate a ruling by Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court requiring prior union intervention in cases of collective dismissals.
“The prior union intervention is an essential procedural requirement for mass dismissals of workers,” the filing states.
The union also claims that some dismissed workers may have legal employment protections, including employees on medical leave and people with disabilities.
“What was collected on the night of March 10 until now is that workers on leave and people with disabilities were dismissed, according to the complaints attached as samples,” the document says.
Cases cited in the lawsuit include a content designer, a support analyst, a quality assurance engineer with disabilities, a software engineer and a recruitment professional undergoing treatment for a serious illness.
The union also suggested the layoffs may be linked to broader restructuring across the technology sector, including cost reductions and the adoption of artificial intelligence.
“The reality perceived by the union, as well as by media reports about collective layoffs in the technology sector, is a restructuring aimed at reducing costs, eliminating higher salaries, rehiring at lower wages and replacing labor with artificial intelligence,” the filing states.
The union is asking the court to declare the layoffs null, reinstate the employees and order the companies to pay individual compensation equivalent to five months of salary for each dismissed worker.
It is also requesting collective moral damages of no less than 10,000 reais ($2,000) per employee, to be directed to Brazil’s Worker Support Fund or another institution determined by the court.
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