In June 2023, iFood launched a Legal and Psychological Support Center which provides legal and psychological assistance to delivery men and women who suffer discrimination from customers or restaurants during their work.
Today, this center has expanded its services to also support delivery men and women who experience cases of physical aggression, threats, harassment, abuse and/or sexual violence.
iFood does not tolerate offenses or aggression towards delivery men and women nor manifestations of prejudice, harassment, bullying and incitement to violence against these workers.
“This is not just a problem for iFood delivery people, it is a problem that is rooted in the entire Brazilian society, which is racism”, says Luana Ozemela, vice-president of Social Impact at iFood. “We decided to take a step towards inhibiting impunity and new cases of racism.”
How does the Support Center work?
To report this type of incident, delivery men and women have a reporting channel on their app. To make a report, simply enter the iFood app menu for Deliverers, click on the “Serious case alert” option and select “I want to report a serious case”.
“This initiative is fundamental to actively combat discrimination and so that delivery people feel supported”, says Johnny Borges, director of Social Impact at iFood. “Making a report through the correct channel speeds up service and ensures that the delivery person will have the necessary assistance quickly and efficiently.”
When the report is made on the app, the iFood Security team contacts the delivery person to assist and better understand what happened and offer free assistance through the Legal and Psychological Support Center.
In addition to psychological care with therapy sessions, delivery men and women receive legal support from Black Sisters in Law, a global association of black lawyers who work in various areas of law, founded by Rio de Janeiro lawyer Dione Assis.
The lawyers at Black Sisters in Law support the entire legal process, from registering the police report to completing the investigation of the case at the police station.
