Jury Duty vs Duty to Hospital

[transkat]

I recently received a jury summons. Although my hospital will pay me for the days I will be fulfulling my civic duty, my nurse mgr. strongly encouraged me to write a financial hardship letter requesting to be excused. I am a 7p-7a nurse and have worked on the unit for over a year. I suggested that if it was a hardship on the department that perhaps she could write a letter to explain why my absence would create a hardship. It was suggested that people get out of this all the time and that it would be easier if I would write a letter. This is a large hospital with a large pool of nurses. I want to serve but fear possible repercussions. Does anyone have any experience with this issue?

[mshultz]

Okay - someone posted that active military personal, police and firemen were the only ones allowed out of jury duty. Active military I completely understand because our country is shipping them all over the world. What makes police and firemen more special than us though. We are all providing potentially life and death services to our community. No, I do not believe we should get out of jury duty, but neither should they.

As for the original poster - my suggestion would be as you said - say you feel it is unethical for you to lie and claim financial hardship, but if she feels that strongly about it, you would gladly submit a letter from her to the judge. That way you do not have to lie and are still making an attempt on behalf of the hospital. You'll probably still get to do the jury duty, but if your manager tries to give you a hard time you can say 'I turned that letter in, the judge denied it'.

The second time I was called up for jury duty, one of the potential jurors was a policeman, in full uniform. He was dismissed by the defense attorney (I did not get to serve, either). The rules differ by area.

[mshultz]

I know how you feel. Last year I was scheduled for Jury duty, I arranged with my manager to have the time off, I was ready to serve, actually looking forward to it. My manager was'nt happy about it ,the unit was already short staffed and my being of would further escalate the problem. The morning I was scheduled to work I got a phone call , they were desperate their had been two call ins and they had only 2 nurses to care for 30 patients, the nursing office had no one to send could I please work. I felt obligated to work. I felt the hospital needed me more than the court system, they had hundreds of potential jurors. When I called to tell them I would not be able to serve they were not very sympathetic. I few weeks later I recieved a letter threatening a hefty fine if I did not call to schedule a date to serve. I was able to serve but it was a hardship to my unit. I felt guilty about not being their.

In general, employer hardship is not a valid excuse for missing jury duty. You, not your employer, could have been cited for contempt of court. Would you really prefer this to imposing a hardship on your employer?

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I know how you feel. Last year I was scheduled for Jury duty, I arranged with my manager to have the time off, I was ready to serve, actually looking forward to it. My manager was'nt happy about it ,the unit was already short staffed and my being of would further escalate the problem. The morning I was scheduled to work I got a phone call , they were desperate their had been two call ins and they had only 2 nurses to care for 30 patients, the nursing office had no one to send could I please work. I felt obligated to work. I felt the hospital needed me more than the court system, they had hundreds of potential jurors. When I called to tell them I would not be able to serve they were not very sympathetic. I few weeks later I recieved a letter threatening a hefty fine if I did not call to schedule a date to serve. I was able to serve but it was a hardship to my unit. I felt guilty about not being their.

Something a very savvy doc said to me 9 years ago . . . .

"You are not the answer to the hospital's staffing problems."

steph

[SEENIT]

In general, employer hardship is not a valid excuse for missing jury duty. You, not your employer, could have been cited for contempt of court. Would you really prefer this to imposing a hardship on your employer?

I was thinking about the patients when I agreed to work. They deserve quality care. Sure the defendent deserved to have a jury of fair minded unpartial jurors, but the sick patients on my unit also deserved quality care. Sometimes unfortunate circumtances arise. Employers and court systems need to be aware of this everyone would benefit from being a little more flexible.

[barbyann]

I feel sorry for the OP. God forbid you request a vacation or personal day after serving. I can hear the manager now "But you just missed 3 weeks of work, no way!". Sigh

[llg, PhD, RN]

I like the suggestion to offer to submit a letter written by the manager ... but I would not be writing or signing such a letter. If the manager wants to claim financial hardship, let her. But don't let her "hide behind you."

As for the selection of jurors from the jury pool, I found that process fascinating when I served 2 years ago. I was shocked at the number of people who said they could not be fair because of some personal bias. I would be ashamed to admit to such weakness of character. I suspect some were using that as a means to shirk their responsibility.

I was also a little surprised to be selected to be on a jury involving child neglect/endangerment (in relation to drugs and guns). I work at the local children's hospital. But I guess the defense lawyer figured my experience would lead me not to be shocked and outraged at the mom because I had seen worse. (I voted "guilty" and to send her to jail.)

[Vito Andolini]

Here in VA I have seen it rejected. The judge said the facility had no hardship getting another nurse since they could utilize an agency. He also said that duty to country trumped duty to self.

There would be no harm in trying. They can only tell you no.

Quad lingual? Which ones?

As to Jury Duty: I once saw a judge require a woman to serve after her paid time from her employer ran out. She had to do JD for free! I thought that was pretty rotten, when a new juror could very easily have been obtained.

Probably a letter from a doctor is the best way to get out of JD, although serving can be interesting and it is our duty to do it once in a while. I wish I'd get called. I haven't been called for many years.

[Vito Andolini]

No one told her to lie. Lying is not necessary. You can get out of jury duty without lying. As for police, fireman and military there jobs are civic ones. Nursing isn't a civic job. People already serving their country and not just the people should get a pass IMHO. There is also no MORAL obligation to serve. Only a legal one.

Civic - some nurses work for government entities. Is their Nursing, therefore, civic?

And somehow communities survive without a particular cop or FF. Why should they not get to serve? JD can be a real learning opportunity, plus a way to uphold the Constitution of our great nation. I would think police and FF, of all people, who are already serving and risking their all, every shift they work, would want a chance to do JD.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I was picked for a drunk driving trial . . .and I readily admitted to having a good friend killed by a drunk driver and having a child involved in DARE and an anti-alcohol group.

One sure-fire way to get out of jury duty - breastfeeding. I've been called twice when I had a baby and was nursing.

steph

[mshultz]

I was picked for a drunk driving trial . . .and I readily admitted to having a good friend killed by a drunk driver and having a child involved in DARE and an anti-alcohol group.

One sure-fire way to get out of jury duty - breastfeeding. I've been called twice when I had a baby and was nursing.

steph

Yes, when I was called for jury duty, a breastfeeding woman was dismissed.

Many places use the voter registration rolls to select jurors, so you can avoid jury duty by not voting.

As far as your employer claiming hardship, when my father was a school administrator, he wrote a letter to the court asking that an employee be excused from jury duty because the school system would have to pay for a substitute. His request was denied.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Most facilities have policies and procedures regarding jury duty and the right of the employee to honor the summons to appear. The only way I wouldn't do it is if I were in school (meaning missing days from classes that can fail me and slow the process of graduation) or per diem work where I am, in fact, losing money to survive.

I suspect they are lying to you in order to decrease having to work harder in finding a replacement during summer/fall vacation time. Screw them.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I was called for jury selection three times in a little over a year. The first time was for a murder trial that ended up taking months before the guy was found guilty of murdering a protitute, wrapping her up in a shower curtain and hiding her under his bed... Fortunately I wasn't selected to his jury. The second time was for a rape trial. The accused came into the courtroom looking like a choir boy, all clean-cut and good-looking. I guess the didn't want a middle-aged nurse on the jury. As the details of the case came out in the press, I was sickened. He too was guilty.

Then came the civil trial I did end up serving for. A pharmacist sued a reporter and the major local paper for defamation over a series of articles exposing him of defrauding the federal government and offering a controlled drug in exchange for sexual favours. The plaintiff's lawyer didn't know that I'd worked as a pharmacy technician and knew very well how the federal program the guy was defrauding actually worked. We ended up being dismissed before deliberations when the plaintiff withdrew his claim. He was going to lose...

When I went to my manager about this jury duty, she was very good about it. It was going to make things tight in the unit but that wasn't something she wanted me to worry about. The thing that did create problems for me is that the case ended up getting pushed back two weeks and fell over the week of spring break. I had to scramble to find care for my handicapped son, who was going to be off school for the whole week and needed care. It never occurred to me to trya nd get out of serving. And I'm glad I did it, because it was a really interesting and educational experience.