Supreme Court panel forms majority to reject conviction against Petrobras.

(Reuters)- The First Panel of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) formed a majority on Tuesday to uphold a decision that exempts Petrobras from a multi-billion dollar labor lawsuit, which, according to a representative of the state-owned company, could lead the process to a final ruling.

Three ministers rejected a new appeal filed by unions against a decision by the same court that had overturned the conviction of Petrobras by the Superior Labor Court (TST).

In a virtual plenary session, Justice Flávio Dino, who was sworn in to the Supreme Court last week, cast the third vote to concur with the votes of the rapporteur, Alexandre de Moraes, and his colleague Cármen Lúcia, in rejecting the appeal.

In his vote, the rapporteur stated that the appellants sought to reargue the substantive issue, which was not permissible in this type of appeal. He voted to impose a fine on the appellant, considering the request to be merely dilatory.

After the majority was formed by the Supreme Court panel, Petrobras' lawyer, Gustavo Caputo, told Reuters that the expectation is that the case will finally be closed.

"That's the trend, but we need to wait for the voting to conclude. Two ministers still need to vote (Fux and Zanin)," he stated, who is a partner at the law firm Caputo, Bastos e Serra Advogados.

The virtual trial will conclude on Friday.

In 2018, the TST (Superior Labor Court) ruled against Petrobras and gave its employees a favorable ruling in a lawsuit with a 17 billion reais impact on the company. The case relates to the Minimum Level and Regime Remuneration (RMNR), a category that concerns special work regimes, such as night shift and hazardous work pay.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court reversed the conviction in a series of decisions.