Jury Duty Lawsuit

In an employment law news release posted by www.justice.org on January 7, 2010, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) announced that a jury has awarded lost wages, emotional distress and punitive damages against a company that demanded the resignation of a worker who served jury duty.  According to the AAJ, when a security guard told her boss that she had been called for jury duty, her boss allegedly discouraged her from serving, saying she should stay at work.  After the security guard complied with the summons and served three days on a criminal trial, she presented a letter from the judge verifying her service and requesting payment for work time missed.  As stated in the AAJ news release, the company refused to pay her and demoted and transferred her.  About a month later, the security guard’s boss allegedly gave her a letter accusing her of fraud and demanding that she provide additional documentation of her jury service or a letter of resignation.  The letter stated as well that is she did not provide one of those, she would be referred to the state attorney and the division of licensing, according to the AAJ.  The security guard resigned and filed a lawsuit under a state statute that prohibited employers from threatening or dismissing employees for the length or nature of their jury service.