fired from work because of jury duty

[cbg]

Yes, and I've acknowledged that. But the poster is so vague that I'm really hesitant to make the same assumptions that everyone else is making as to what has occurred.

 

[ESteele]

DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING! SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH AN EMPLOYMENT LAW ATTORNEY ASAP!

Absent a written or otherwise explicit policy requiring employees to report to work for the balance of the work day after if they are dismissed from jury duty early, your employer may have violated state law by terminating you. (I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of “employee handbooks.” I have never seen such a requirement beforehand. If anyone is subject to such a unique provision, I would suspect it may be law enforcement personnel.)

Through the passage of a statute and/or through the development of common law, most states have made it unlawful for employers to retaliate against workers who honor jury duty subpoena notices. You need to check with an experienced local lawyer to determine whether Pennsylvania is in step with most of the other states in the Union in this regard.

On a related note, the two months of paid COBRA appears, in my opinion, to be “chump change.” In hindsight, your employer may have recognized it could face liability and significant damages for terminating you for honoring the jury duty subpoena. The “offer” of two months of COBRA premium coverage may amount to approximately a thousand dollars or less. On the other hand, the employer could face far more exposure for possible back pay, emotional distress compensatory damages and even possibly punitive damages. In my estimation, you will be far better served by consulting with counsel to explore your rights here and foregoing the two months of COBRA premium coverage.

 

[>Charlotte<]

He wasn't fired for reporting for jury duty. He was fired because he didn't go to work when he discovered he no longer had jury duty.

 

[ESteele]

To be clear, absent an explicit policy requiring employees to report back to the job for the balance of the day if they are dismissed from jury duty early, the employer cannot lawfully terminate an employee for responding to a jury subpoena, going to the courthouse, being dismissed early and not reporting back to work the same day.

While courts throughout the country have had a “mixed” history, at best, of endorsing other exceptions to the employment at will doctrine, the courts have almost uniformly endorsed wrongful termination claims based on reprisal for participating in jury service. Notably, it appears that Pennsylvania was one of the earliest jurisdictions to prohibit reprisal against workers for jury service. See Reuther v. Fowler & Williams, Inc., 255 Pa. Super. 28, 386 A.2d 119 (Pa. 1978).

If the employer’s “defense” is she could have returned to the job but it did not have an unambiguous policy already in place requiring employees to return for the balance of the day, then it will in all likelihood lose in court. To this point, the OP stated “the policy doesn't say anything” concerning returning to work that day following dismissal from jury duty. I do not think a PA court will give the employer a pass by merely contending she did not make her way back to work that day.

In addition, the unusual offer to pay for two months of COBRA premium coverage definitely suggests that the employer realizes it has probably made a big mistake in firing her under these circumstances.

In sum, without a prominent “return to work after abbreviated jury duty service” policy, this employer is likely toast.

 

[>Charlotte<]

To be clear, absent an explicit policy requiring employees to report back to the job for the balance of the day if they are dismissed from jury duty early, the employer cannot lawfully terminate an employee for responding to a jury subpoena, going to the courthouse, being dismissed early and not reporting back to work the same day.

While courts throughout the country have had a “mixed” history, at best, of endorsing other exceptions to the employment at will doctrine, the courts have almost uniformly endorsed wrongful termination claims based on reprisal for participating in jury service. Notably, it appears that Pennsylvania was one of the earliest jurisdictions to prohibit reprisal against workers for jury service. See Reuther v. Fowler & Williams, Inc., 255 Pa. Super. 28, 386 A.2d 119 (Pa. 1978).

If the employer’s “defense” is she could have returned to the job but it did not have an unambiguous policy already in place requiring employees to return for the balance of the day, then it will in all likelihood lose in court. To this point, the OP stated “the policy doesn't say anything” concerning returning to work that day following dismissal from jury duty. I do not think a PA court will give the employer a pass by merely contending she did not make her way back to work that day.

In addition, the unusual offer to pay for two months of COBRA premium coverage definitely suggests that the employer realizes it has probably made a big mistake in firing her under these circumstances.

In sum, without a prominent “return to work after abbreviated jury duty service” policy, this employer is likely toast.

I continue to disagree per my previous statement.

I also find nothing suspicious in the employer's offer of two months of COBRA premiums. Regardless of whether they're sure they'll win, nobody wants to deal with a pain-in-the-ass lawsuit, and it might very well be worth it to deflect any threats jkmo may have made at the time.

I would not, however, suggest anyone should not see an attorney under any circumstances. Message boards are for general information only. If he has any lingering doubts he should absolutely schedule a consultation.

 

[justalayman]

I haven't found anything specific to PA yet but here are a couple links. One to NYU and one to San Diego schools. Both require an employee that only serves a partial day at jury duty to return to work the remainder of their normal work day. NYU specifies if it is if you have at least 3 hours of work remaining.

http://www.nyu.edu/about/policies-guidelines-compliance/policies-and-guidelines/jury-duty.html

http://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/34/procedures/pp7144.pdf

Did anybody miss that the OP was paid for the day? If they weren't paid for the day, I would have a bit more sympathy but since they got paid for the entire day, they should have returned to work, or at least contacted their employer and asked if they needed to return to work the remainder of the day.