Has your employee recently been summoned to serve as a prospective Federal juror with the District Court of Guam? Under our current Jury Plan, in any two-year period, trial jurors are not required to serve for a total of more than 30 days, except when necessary to complete jury service in a particular case. Grand jurors are on call to serve for a period of 12 months, and typically meet for a half-day, three or four times per month.
The Jury System Improvement Act of 1978, as amended, provides statutory protection to the employment status of Federal jurors by prohibiting any employer to discharge, intimidate, threaten, or coerce any permanent employee by reason of the employee's Federal jury service or scheduled attendance for such service.
To get your questions answered, please call our Jury Administrator, Leilani Hernandez at 969-4521, Assistant Jury Administrator, Walter Tenorio at 969-4514 or our Chief Deputy Clerk, Charles White at 969-4510.
28 U.S. Code § 1875
(a) No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any permanent employee by reason of such employee’s jury service, or the attendance or scheduled attendance in connection with such service, in any court of the United States.
(b)Any employer who violates the provisions of this section—
(2) may be enjoined from further violations of this section and ordered to provide other appropriate relief, including but not limited to the reinstatement of any employee discharged by reason of his jury service; and
(3) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation as to each employee, and may be ordered to perform community service.
(c) Any individual who is reinstated to a position of employment in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be considered as having been on furlough or leave of absence during his period of jury service, shall be reinstated to his position of employment without loss of seniority, and shall be entitled to participate in insurance or other benefits offered by the employer pursuant to established rules and practices relating to employees on furlough or leave of absence in effect with the employer at the time such individual entered upon jury service.
(d)
(2) In any action or proceeding under this section, the court may award a prevailing employee who brings such action by retained counsel a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs. The court may tax a defendant employer, as costs payable to the court, the attorney fees and expenses incurred on behalf of a prevailing employee, where such costs were expended by the court pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. The court may award a prevailing employer a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs only if the court finds that the action is frivolous, vexatious, or brought in bad faith.