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A dishwasher was awarded $21 million (Dh77 million approximately) jury verdict after she was fired for missing six work Sundays for religious reasons. Marie Jean Pierre, 60, who worked over 10 years at Conrad Miami Hotel said in spite of informing at the time of hiring, her employer still scheduled her to work on the six Sundays and fired her in March 2016.
A jury in federal court ruled in her favour on Monday, granting her $21 million in damages, plus $35,000 in back wages and $500,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish. "They accommodated her for seven years, and they easily could have accommodated her, but instead of doing that, they set her up for absenteeism and threw her out," her attorney Marc Brumer said.
Pierre, a devout Christian missionary born in Haiti, missed work to attend Bethel Baptist Church in Miami. "I love God. No work on Sunday, because Sunday I honour God," Pierre said Wednesday in an interview with NBC 6 Miami. While her lawsuit argued that her former employer, which was managed by Hilton at the time, had violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex or national origin.
But Pierre's former employer was unhappy with the jury's decision and said that it intends to appeal. "During Pierre's ten years with the hotel, multiple concessions were made to accommodate her personal and religious commitments," Hilton said in a statement.
Speaking on the verdict, Pierre's attorney Brumer said, "This was not about money. This was about sending a message to other corporations whether big or small. Whatever size you are, if you're going to take the blood and sweat of your workers, you better accommodate them or let them at least believe in their religious beliefs."
However, as there is a cap on punitive damage awards in federal court, Pierre will not be able to receive the entire $21 million but according to Brumer she is expected to receive at least $500,000. "I asked for $50 million, knowing that I was capped at $300,000. I didn't do this for money. I did this to right the wrongs," he added.
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