Pierre alleged that in 2009, the hotel had scheduled her to work on Sundays and she informed them that if they did she would have to resign. To persuade her not to leave, however, the hotel accommodated her request until 2015. After hearing the case, a federal jury in Miami ordered Conrad Hotel to pay Pierre $36,000 for lost wages, $500,000 for emotional anguish, and $21 million in punitive damages.
A devout Christian dishwasher and mother of six who was fired by the Conrad Hotel in Miami, Florida, for refusing to work on Sundays was awarded $21 million in punitive damages by a federal jury Monday after she sued for the violation of her religious rights.
“I love God. No, I can’t [work on] Sunday because Sunday, I honor God,” Haitian immigrant Marie Jean Pierre, 60, said in an interview with NBC 6 South Florida on Wednesday.
The jury found that the Conrad Hotel retaliated against Pierre when they fired her for being unable to work on Sundays even though they were aware of her involvement with the Soldiers of Christ Church that prevented her from working on Sundays, the Miami Herald reported.
Subscribe to Free “Top 10 Stories” Email
Get the top 10 stories from The Aquila Report in your inbox every Tuesday morning.