Don’t mess with jury duty

Jury duty is one of those things that most people have a poor attitude about, but like they say, it’s a civic duty. Imagine Jackalyn P. Strachan’s surprise, then, when she was fired for serving jury duty. Strachan was a security guard for Hall Investigation Service in Miami when she received a jury summons. She informed her boss, who was not pleased and allegedly suggested she skip jury duty and report instead to work. Strachan chose to serve her jury duty and was placed on a jury for a murder trial. The trial lasted three days.

Strachan then returned to work, but her employer refused to compensate her for the three days and then accused Strachan of lying about her jury duty, even though Strachan had received a letter from the court confirming her jury service. Hall Investigation Service then fired Strachan.

Miami-Dade county law asserts that employers must pay employee wages for the first three days of jury duty and that employers cannot fire employees for going on jury duty. Strachan sued her former employer for wrongful termination and was recently awarded $150,000: $30,000 for lost wages and emotional distress plus $120,000 for punitive damages. Strachan found a new job after her wrongful dismissal by Hall–she now works as a security guard at the Miami-Dad County Courthouse.

For the full story, go here.

This was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 and is filed in the Legal categories.