Hotel Dishwasher Who Was Forced To Work On Sundays Awarded Rs 153 Crore By Jury
Marie Jean Pierre who has been working as a dishwasher at the Conrad Hotel Miami for nearly 10 years was fired because she was not ready to work on Sundays. A federal jury decided to award Pierre $215 million that equal to Rs 1531122500 Rs 153 crore Of this amount $36000 that equal Rs 2563380 is meant to cover lost wages and benefits. $500,000 for mental anguish and emotional pain and the remaining $20964 million thatequal Rs 1488403950 for punit...Read More
Marie Jean Pierre who has been working as a dishwasher at the Conrad Hotel, Miami, for nearly 10 years was fired because she was not ready to work on Sundays.
Pierre said that she had informed the hotel from the beginning that she will not work on Sundays because she was a missionary for the Soldiers of Christ Church.
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"I love God," Pierre, 60, told NBC Miami on Wednesday. "No work on Sunday, because Sunday I honor God."
Up until October 2015, the hotel respected her beliefs and allowed her to take a leave on Sundays. This changed when a kitchen manager forced her to schedule work on Sundays.
Her pastor in the church wrote a letter explaining to the hotel staff that it would be a violation of her religious beliefs to schedule her work on Sundays, according to a copy of the complaint she filed.
The kitchen manager asked her to switch her shifts with her co-workers to take an off on Sundays. This happened till March 2016, when Pierre was terminated for alleged misconduct, negligence, and unexcused absences, the complaint said.
After this, Pierre filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying that the hotel had discriminated against her religious beliefs.
After that, she even filed a lawsuit against Park Hotels and Resorts of Tysons, Virginia saying that the hotel had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which bans employment discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex or national origin.
On Monday, a federal jury decided to award Pierre $21.5 million that equal to Rs 1,53,11,22,500 (Rs 153 crore). Of this amount, $36,000 (that equal Rs 25,63,380) is meant to cover lost wages and benefits, while $500,000 (that equal Rs 3,56,02,500) for mental anguish and emotional pain and the remaining $20.964 million (that equal Rs 1,48,84,03,950) for punitive damages.
Despite these figures, Pierre will receive at most $300,000 that equal to Rs 2,13,64,650 out of the $21 million because of a cap on punitive damages.
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"For them, it wasn't really money. It was trying to right the wrong," Pierre¡¯s attorney - Bruner said. "It's just a great day for religious freedoms and protection of workers."
"We were very disappointed by the jury's verdict and don't believe that it is supported by the facts of this case or the law," Hilton said in a statement to the news station. "During Ms Pierre's 10 years with the hotel, multiple concessions were made to accommodate her personal and religious commitments."