We’ll see how that goes.
Jane has to call noonish to see if she’s needed again.
9 Comments
Danamr
on February 7, 2016 at 10:51 am
I was on a jury in December, and found the process fascinating. Ford Mo Co vs. State Farm Insurance. Learned about fire investigations and car fires. It was not a bad experience, My employer was not happy, and it cost me vacation and sick time, but it was very interesting. At some point I would like to do a criminal case.
It’s one of those things. Make the most of it.
That is something I find grossly unfair. There is a federal law that if a member of the National Guard is activated and deployed, that their employer cannot fire them, and must rehire them upon their return to civilian life, as well as allow for their two weeks active duty training each year.
Why can’t there be a law that protects people in the same way when those people are called for jury duty? If you don’t go, you’re in contempt of court, and could face fines and jail time, which means then you DO get fired. Yes, I’m aware that employers count on their employees to show up for work, and my presumption is that most employees would show up for work every day unless there were exigencies that prevented them from doing so, such as jury duty. Citizens should not be penalized because they are obeying the law and participating in the legal process this country uses. I’m aware that employers will stand to lose some money if the employee isn’t there and being productive, but the same thing applies to that National Guard member, they’re not there being productive, and the employer has to get a replacement for that person. They do have temporary staffing agencies for that purpose, and the company could utilize one of those agencies, maybe? Just a thought….
Here in Washington, too, there is a part of the form that asks you to state that your employer will not release you—which might have repercussions in itself.
OTOH, when I was a teacher, they kept asking me to serve during the school year, and because no substitute could teach Latin, there was no way to replace me and keep it from affecting 150 or so students. Not counting the 300 I managed at times in study hall. It also got me out of hock when I got detained in customs (thanks to my traveling companion, also a teacher, who thought she would save space in her luggage (after her purchases) by getting all her prescription pills together in a plastic bag and tossing the original containers. I said that if I missed that plane there would be a hundred or so kids in Oklahoma with no teacher—and they opened the door and said go to both of us.
Mine wouldn’t penalize me – but they wouldn’t pay me for that time, either. Contract employee, even though it was direct contract, not through an agency. (No paid sick time, either. It was really half-assed, that way, since we did get paid for holidays and vacation.)
NOLO Press is my go-to for many issues regarding the law, at least as it applies casually to civilians. Here’s what they have to say about employers, employees, and jury duty: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/taking-time-off-jury-duty.html
TL;DR Employers are not supposed to penalize you for doing your civic duty; OTOH, they aren’t required to pay you for time spend doing so, so you may end up burning paid vacation leave if you would take too much of a financial hit otherwise. They have a nice list of the relevant statutes for each state.
Then there’s us self-employed, who just don’t have an income if we’re not working. If I get stuck on something lengthy, my only recourse is to start working at 6pm and work til midnight and up again and work between 5AM and 8…
I did it when I was writing and teaching, months at a time, but I’m a shade older than I was then.
It’s up to the judge. In my case the judge had no problem excusing self-employed people who would have problems not working for two weeks. She also let a couple of doctors who had no backup go. Not being convenient didn’t work.
Something like a capital murder case is handled very differently. The pool was 300 and you filled out a 13 page questionnaire.
I had a long talk with my employer after, and I think I got policy changed. They covered the first two days, then you were on your own. I pointed out how unfair that was, and they agreed.
It’s all a matter of luck. When I went in, there were a ton of trials starting, and almost everyone in the room got called. Two, three days later, everyone was there 2 days and gone.
Hopefully that’s you too.
That said someone has to do it. People on trial deserve a representative group to hear their trial.
Hope you have a dull, boring and trivial case or set of cases to deal with. My first and only experience was one that was none of these and I’d swap a lot of money to have gotten out of hearing it.
I was on a jury in December, and found the process fascinating. Ford Mo Co vs. State Farm Insurance. Learned about fire investigations and car fires. It was not a bad experience, My employer was not happy, and it cost me vacation and sick time, but it was very interesting. At some point I would like to do a criminal case.
It’s one of those things. Make the most of it.
That is something I find grossly unfair. There is a federal law that if a member of the National Guard is activated and deployed, that their employer cannot fire them, and must rehire them upon their return to civilian life, as well as allow for their two weeks active duty training each year.
Why can’t there be a law that protects people in the same way when those people are called for jury duty? If you don’t go, you’re in contempt of court, and could face fines and jail time, which means then you DO get fired. Yes, I’m aware that employers count on their employees to show up for work, and my presumption is that most employees would show up for work every day unless there were exigencies that prevented them from doing so, such as jury duty. Citizens should not be penalized because they are obeying the law and participating in the legal process this country uses. I’m aware that employers will stand to lose some money if the employee isn’t there and being productive, but the same thing applies to that National Guard member, they’re not there being productive, and the employer has to get a replacement for that person. They do have temporary staffing agencies for that purpose, and the company could utilize one of those agencies, maybe? Just a thought….
I thought there was a law that said you’re employer could not penalize you for attending jury duty? Or was that only in California?
Here in Washington, too, there is a part of the form that asks you to state that your employer will not release you—which might have repercussions in itself.
OTOH, when I was a teacher, they kept asking me to serve during the school year, and because no substitute could teach Latin, there was no way to replace me and keep it from affecting 150 or so students. Not counting the 300 I managed at times in study hall. It also got me out of hock when I got detained in customs (thanks to my traveling companion, also a teacher, who thought she would save space in her luggage (after her purchases) by getting all her prescription pills together in a plastic bag and tossing the original containers. I said that if I missed that plane there would be a hundred or so kids in Oklahoma with no teacher—and they opened the door and said go to both of us.
Mine wouldn’t penalize me – but they wouldn’t pay me for that time, either. Contract employee, even though it was direct contract, not through an agency. (No paid sick time, either. It was really half-assed, that way, since we did get paid for holidays and vacation.)
NOLO Press is my go-to for many issues regarding the law, at least as it applies casually to civilians. Here’s what they have to say about employers, employees, and jury duty:
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/taking-time-off-jury-duty.html
TL;DR Employers are not supposed to penalize you for doing your civic duty; OTOH, they aren’t required to pay you for time spend doing so, so you may end up burning paid vacation leave if you would take too much of a financial hit otherwise. They have a nice list of the relevant statutes for each state.
Then there’s us self-employed, who just don’t have an income if we’re not working. If I get stuck on something lengthy, my only recourse is to start working at 6pm and work til midnight and up again and work between 5AM and 8…
I did it when I was writing and teaching, months at a time, but I’m a shade older than I was then.
It’s up to the judge. In my case the judge had no problem excusing self-employed people who would have problems not working for two weeks. She also let a couple of doctors who had no backup go. Not being convenient didn’t work.
Something like a capital murder case is handled very differently. The pool was 300 and you filled out a 13 page questionnaire.
I had a long talk with my employer after, and I think I got policy changed. They covered the first two days, then you were on your own. I pointed out how unfair that was, and they agreed.
It’s all a matter of luck. When I went in, there were a ton of trials starting, and almost everyone in the room got called. Two, three days later, everyone was there 2 days and gone.
Hopefully that’s you too.
That said someone has to do it. People on trial deserve a representative group to hear their trial.
Hope you have a dull, boring and trivial case or set of cases to deal with. My first and only experience was one that was none of these and I’d swap a lot of money to have gotten out of hearing it.