The same judge who revoked the appointment of otorhinolaryngologist Lorena Pinheiro ordered the university to appoint her to another position

The rector of the Federal University of Bahia (Ufba), Paulo Miguez, said that he saw with “strangeness” the federal court ruling that determined the appointment of otorhinolaryngologist Lorena Pinheiro for one of the unoccupied places at the Faculty of Medicine of Bahia (FMB). Lorena’s case had national repercussions because she was prevented from taking up a position as a teacher due to another court decision against quotas.

“This is disrespectful to the university and expresses a misunderstanding of what the university is. University vacancies are not just vacancies. These are vacancies that respond to specific needs, to specific disciplines in specific fields of research. To imagine that any vacancy will be available to anyone is to not understand the nature of a university”, said Miguez, in an interview with CORREIO, this Thursday (24).

It was also on this Thursday that Ufba was officially notified of the order. The original sentence was issued on October 4th and there was an initial deadline for the university to comply, which did not happen. Thus, last Tuesday (22), judge Arali Maciel Duarte, from the 1st Federal Court, gave two days for Ufba to appoint Lorena to the position of professor of higher education, at the Faculty of Medicine of Bahia (FMB), at risk of a fine.

However, the magistrate is the same one who authorized the revocation of Lorena’s appointment, in August, by granting another injunction in favor of the broad competition candidate, also otorhinolaryngologist Carolina Cincurá Barreto. On June 13, the same federal judge determined not only that Carolina be appointed to the position but also that Ufba not call or nominate quota candidates for the position.

In the most recent ruling, the judge says that Ufba must allocate Lorena to one of the FMB vacancies, but does not specify which vacancy that would be. For rector Paulo Miguez, the sentence ends up disrespecting medical training and puts at risk patients who will be treated by doctors trained by specialists from other areas.

“If you have children, would you consider taking your daughter to a pediatrician who had been a professor in the field of pediatrics, for example, a doctor who spent her entire training, residency and doctorate, studying otorhinolaryngology? Would you be comfortable if your daughter’s pediatrician had been trained by someone who is not in the field of Pediatrics? I could also ask the magistrate if she would accept being defended in the Jury Court by a lawyer specializing in sports law or administrative law?”, he asks.

The rector said that Ufba will appeal through the competent channels, through its attorney’s office. On Wednesday (23), doctor Lorena Pinheiro also commented on the fact that there was no definition for which area would be allocated.

“It’s as if she posed the problem to Ufba. Because I could end up in an area where I would have to prepare myself from scratch to take over. I would be in limbo at the university, given that the position I am entitled to is in otorhinolaryngology”, he said, on occasion.

The dean also spoke about disrespect for the quota policy at federal universities. In September, a newspaper report showed that, in Brazil, there are at least seven cases of candidates with broad competition who used the courts to prevent the nomination of black quota candidates, all approved in the first place after hetero-identification.

Of these, four are at Ufba itself – in addition to Lorena, there were processes at the Institute of Health Sciences, the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science and the School of Fine Arts. Another three are at the Federal Universities of Sergipe (UFS), Uberlândia (UFU) and Fluminense (UFF).

For Miguez, Brazilian society is still reluctant to accept the need to produce affirmative policies for those who have been deprived of opportunities to grow throughout history. However, he reinforced that Ufba is clear that it is moving in the best way to enforce the quota policy.

“The more this law could be truly implemented, the better the university will be and the better Brazilian society will be,” he said. “Those who believe they can stop the university in its obligation to welcome the entire Brazilian society will not pass,” he emphasized.

A shareholder, Lorena came first in the otorhinolaryngology competition after the last phase – hetero-identification -, but her result was questioned by the candidate approved in the broad competition, in an action against affirmative action. In August, Lorena discovered that she had lost her place after a decision by the 1st Court revoked the ordinance that Ufba published approving the results of the competition.

On October 3rd, judge Arali Maciel Duarte denied the appeal against her original decision, which revoked Lorena’s vacancy – and which led to this entire situation. The following day, the same magistrate granted the new injunction, but within the scope of another case filed by Lorena’s legal advisors.

Furthermore, the sentence comes in the same week that the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) issued a favorable opinion to Lorena in the process regarding the notice. In the text, Federal Prosecutor Fábio Conrado Loula recalls the understanding of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) that there should be no division of vacancies according to specialization in higher education exams. The prosecutor’s manifesto is for Lorena to be appointed in one of the FMB’s proven unoccupied vacancies.

Last Wednesday, Lorena told the reporter that the new injunction is a partial victory. She explains that it is a celebration in the sense of understanding that the position is yours and that the demand is not empty. “It’s a first decision in favor of my right to have access to the Quota Law. In the notice I participated in, all the other black quota holders were summoned, except me, who was challenged. It’s the first victory, but it doesn’t resolve it, because I was approved for the vacancy of otorhinolaryngologist”, he emphasized.

Even so, she questioned the future of applying the Quota Law in teaching competitions and pointed out that there is now legal uncertainty. “The injustice is still there, the structural differences that hinder the arrival of black people in these spaces are still there. This preliminary decision does not correct the injustice”, he added.

The lawyer representing the doctor, Felipe Jacques, explained that, when her vacancy was revoked, they identified that there was a bad precedent in the second degree, regarding decisions of this type. He was referring to the case of pharmacist Felipe Hugo Fernandes, a shareholder approved in a competition for the area of ​​Pharmacology, at the Institute of Health Sciences at Ufba.

In 2021, however, Felipe Hugo lost his position after the candidate approved in the broad competition went to court, even before his appointment, to take over the position. His case was revealed by CORREIO in September. The case is in the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF-1), but it has been unanswered for two and a half years. Unable to take up the position at Ufba, Felipe Hugo was approved in a competition for the Federal University of Vale do São Francisco (Univasf), also in Pharmacology, for the Medicine course, and took office last month.

Black and with a PhD in Health Sciences from Ufba itself, Lorena competed as a quota participant in competition nº 1/2023, which had 30 vacancies for teaching staff in different units of the institution. The notice stated that six vacancies would be reserved for black candidates and two for people with disabilities, following the minimum percentage determined by the Quota Law, of 20% and 5%, respectively. Since 2018, quotas have been applied to all vacancies available in notices for Ufba teachers.

In the written test, which took place on December 20th of last year and was the only stage that was completely blind, Lorena had the highest score. The assessment asked all participants to talk about a topic defined by draw – in her case, peripheral facial paralysis. Next came the subjective steps. In the presentation of the memorial, for example, two teachers received a score of around 8.5 while the third member of the panel gave a score of 7.0.

The preliminary results of the three initial phases came out on December 22nd and Lorena came in fourth place. However, there still remained the hetero-identification panel, which could only be done when the Ufba teachers’ strike came to an end, in June of this year. Even before the panel, Lorena still didn’t know, but the candidate who had come first in the broad competition was already questioning Ufba about her nomination.

On May 8, three months before the final result of the competition, the candidate and also an otorhinolaryngologist Carolina Cincurá Barreto filed a writ of mandamus with urgent protection requesting three things: her call and appointment, the nullity of the notice to prevent any reclassification and compensation in case of late appointment.