Florida Security Worker Denied Jury Duty Pay Awarded Damages

A jury has awarded a Miami security guard worker $150,000 in damages after finding that she was wrongfully denied wages and fired for serving as a juror in a murder trial.

Jackalyn P. Strachan served three days on a jury in 2007 that convicted a 43-year-old man of murder for fatally beating a homeless man with a tree in Homestead.

In a lawsuit, Strachan claimed her employer, Hall Investigation Service, refused to pay the roughly $400 in wages she would have owned. She also alleged the security firm’s owner accused her of fraud.

Jurors awarded Strachan $30,000 for lost wages and emotional distress, and $120,000 in punitive damages last week.