Professor left to do a doctorate in Uruguay, but school considered that she was unjustifiably absent
A CGU (General Comptroller of the Union) decided to re-examine the PAD (disciplinary administrative process) that resulted in the dismissal of professor Emy Virginia Oliveira da Costa by IFCE (Federal Institute of Ceará). The teacher, who is transgender, was fired after the institution concluded that she was unjustifiably absent for more than 60 days in 2019.
Emy, who has been a professor at IFCE's Tianguá campus since 2016, explains that the absences were motivated by a doctoral course that she began studying in 2019, at the Universidad de la República, in Uruguay. Postgraduate studies required her to attend Montevideo for seminar cycles that lasted around 4 weeks.
She says that, due to an internal bureaucratic procedure (an authorization to transfer to another IFCE campus), she could not request leave to pursue her doctorate in another country.
According to her, her removal to the Baturité campus was authorized in 2018, but in 2019 she was still working in Tianguá, because IFCE had not yet made the transfer official. The transfer would only be carried out in 2022, by decision of the Court, according to the professor.
Therefore, even without knowing that the completion of her transfer would take 4 years, Emy opted for another instrument: the anticipation of classes at IFCE, with the written agreement of the students, so that she could be temporarily absent and participate in face-to-face seminars in Uruguay .
Still according to Emy, in the first 2 periods of absence, she brought classes forward and informed her coordinator, at IFCE, but did not register the advance forms in the institution's system, the SEI, nor did she ask for authorization from the rectory to Leave the country.
In her 3rd period of absence, in August, Emy says that she not only entered the class anticipation forms into the system but also asked the rectory for authorization, which took just 5 days to approve the professor's departure from the country to attend the doctorate seminars.
During the September seminar period, the teacher adopted the same procedures as in August. The difference is that, this time, the dean did not respond to her request for authorization to leave the country in time and she had to travel to Uruguay even without the document.
Departures without express authorization from the rectory, in April, June and September, totaled 79 days. Thus, IFCE opened a PAD against Emy. She was notified of the opening of the procedure in November 2019, but it was only in January 2024 that the PAD was completed and it was decided to dismiss the teacher.
In a note released in January, IFCE justified its decision by the fact that, based on documents and testimonies, the case was classified as habitual non-attendance and that Law 8,122 of 1990 is exhaustive in establishing dismissal as a penalty for this conduct.
Emy explains that, despite not having registered the forms in the system, they exist and are authentic. “The PAD’s final report does not consider, for example, that there are advance payment forms, which, although they have not been filed with the SEI, have the students’ signatures. were not considered [tampouco] statements from students saying that classes were brought forward and that there was no harm. And they still count these days of the 4th period, without considering that the rector, for 2 years and 4 months, did not speak out [sobre o pedido de saída do país em setembro de 2019]“defends Emy.
According to her, her dismissal is a case of transphobia. “If you look, all of this shows that there is persecution. There is a veiled transphobia. It's like sharp claws under white gloves. These claws cannot be seen. Why consider absence if the teacher brought classes forward? I wasn't the first to do this. Teachers often anticipate classes without registering with the SEI”.
In the note released in January, IFCE stated that the PAD followed “all the rite provided for in current legislation, observing the principles of legality and impersonality, as well as the right to adversarial proceedings and full defense, which were amply guaranteed to the teacher in question”.
Also according to the note, in the last 5 years, 5 employees were dismissed from IFCE due to habitual non-attendance. “IFCE is an institution that embraces diversity, respects differences and treats its community equally and respectfully, with the issue of inclusion and diversity as a policy”says the note.
In the letter sent to the rectory of IFCE, the inspector general of the Union, Ricardo Wagner de Araújo, informs that the CGU concluded that there is a need to re-examine the PAD to “verify its regularity and adequacy of the penalty applied”.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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