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I'm pretty straight and honest, but I think this would be one time I'd just pretend that summons got lost in the mail. Getting a job is more important than being a potential juror.
They'll probably send you another one pretty quickly, but by that point you'd presumably be employed and couldn't be fired for it. Allegedly you can be issued a contempt of court citation but I've never heard of that happening to anyone.
The OP does not mention the state of residence -- where I have lived the state or local government allows a lot of leeway when requesting jury duty service.
In Connecticut, the first notice mentions that the jury appearance (which may or may not lead to an empaneled jury) can be rescheduled for any reason at least twice in the coming 12-month period. Other New England states have similar rules.
It's unfairly restrictive to require a citizen to be somewhere at a given day and time, considering all of the long-lead-time obligations going on in many people's lives. Nowadays it takes weeks just to get a car servicing scheduled, not to mention medical scheduling, long-distance travel, and of course work deadlines.
I live in the state of NC and here, once you get the summons you are given a number to call the night before to see if your appearance is still required. I can't really wait till the night before and then not show up for work the next day. Training starts on the 8th. Jury duty is on the 15th. That's a Monday. Kind of hard to call your boss Sunday afternoon to tell them you won't be in training the next day because of jury duty. They are probably going to ask you why you hadn't mentioned jury duty until now.
I'm pretty straight and honest, but I think this would be one time I'd just pretend that summons got lost in the mail. Getting a job is more important than being a potential juror.
They'll probably send you another one pretty quickly, but by that point you'd presumably be employed and couldn't be fired for it. Allegedly you can be issued a contempt of court citation but I've never heard of that happening to anyone.
It's a little late to say "I never got it" because I got it weeks ago, on the summons it gives you a website to access to confirm receipt of the summons. Yeah, maybe had I known then that I would possibly get a job offer now maybe I wouldn't have confirmed that I received the summons.
The OP does not mention the state of residence -- where I have lived the state or local government allows a lot of leeway when requesting jury duty service.
In Connecticut, the first notice mentions that the jury appearance (which may or may not lead to an empaneled jury) can be rescheduled for any reason at least twice in the coming 12-month period. Other New England states have similar rules.
It's unfairly restrictive to require a citizen to be somewhere at a given day and time, considering all of the long-lead-time obligations going on in many people's lives. Nowadays it takes weeks just to get a car servicing scheduled, not to mention medical scheduling, long-distance travel, and of course work deadlines.
I was going to note this as well - it varies a lot by state. In at least one state where I've lived you were able to postpone jury duty one time for any reason as a matter of right.
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Originally Posted by MarianRavenwood
I'm pretty straight and honest, but I think this would be one time I'd just pretend that summons got lost in the mail. Getting a job is more important than being a potential juror.
They'll probably send you another one pretty quickly, but by that point you'd presumably be employed and couldn't be fired for it. Allegedly you can be issued a contempt of court citation but I've never heard of that happening to anyone.
It depends on the state. Here in Washington failure to appear after being summoned is a misdemeanor, when we were in California they just call you again along with a warning. In Texas they can fine you fine between $100 and $1,000, in New York it's fines, community service, and even possible jail time.
Here in MA, you can call up and defer service for up to one year for any reason.
I would have just kept it under my hat until being offered a position and then brought it up.
At the jury duty i would then just say "I was supposed to start a new job today and am missing critical scheduled training. I had a good opportunity come up that i couldn't let go and while i realize it inconveniences the court, this has implications on my life/career and can't miss it", or something like that.
I had this over and over for a couple of years. I had my mom in home health and then hospice care with me being the sole care taker. I mean there was absolutely no one but me to be home and care for my mom. Sure enough I'd get these jury summons and then call the courthouse. They weren't very sympathetic to the idea not everyone can just drop what they have going on in their lives to run down and sit on some jury. I had my mom's doctor write letters to the court. This wasn't just an issue of my mom's physical condition, but she would have been greatly impacted mentally by my absence. The doctor expressed in his letters it would have been a true hardship for me to be gone for jury duty. I was finally excused.
I am currently on the job hunt and about a month or so ago I got a summons for jury duty in my city. It is scheduled for 4/15/24. Today I received an email about a potential position. The woman called and while conducting the interview she said that the training for the position begins 4/8 and asked if I had anything that might interfere with me starting the position. I mentioned that I have jury duty on the 15 and that pretty much ended the interview. She asked me if I could possibly reschedule jury duty but in my knowledge there's not too many reason you can give to reschedule jury duty. It either takes an act of God or military service short of being in the hospital with some terminal illness.
Is it wrong to think that if a company is seriously interested in hiring you they could make some concessions about jury duty. It wasn't like I told then I had booked a 7 day cruise or had to go to my best friend's gender reveal across the country. This is jury duty.
Is there a possibility I could call the clerk of courts and explain to them that I am currently unemployed and that jury duty possibly cost me a job? Maybe they could reschedule it. However, that could mean that if this company does hire me they would have to allow me the time off later for jury duty, with pay?
Your thoughts.
I've never had an issue rescheduling Jury Duty and I went through a period of time when I was being called almost as soon as I was eligible after my last time. The Clerk is going to be more open to rescheduling than if you had called up and wanted to get excused from Jury Duty. The last time I got a notice, I could have even requested a postponement of a date of my choosing. Now, that could just be my area and the specific court, but I would read your notice and see if there are any specific instructions on how to request a postponement.
Not sure how you truly left it with the interviewer. But what you should have done is let her know you would contact the Clerk of the Court and get back to her.
As for your rescheduled date, your employer can't fire you for being called on Jury Duty. But they also don't necessarily have to pay you either. This often will keep you off the longer cases.
And even if I was already seated on a jury, with this being a "potential" position she probably still would have pulled my application not wanting to give me the time off.
Unfortunately, N Carolina like almost all states, provide protection to employees when called for Jury service/duty but provided no protections during the job search process.
Now, for future reference, when asked if you have anything that might interfere with you starting the position, think about starting, not what may happen days later. If they didn't ask about training weeks or working during the next few months, answer as it pertains to starting. Once on board, NC statutory regulations would apply: § 9‑32. Discharge of juror unlawful.
(a) No employer may discharge or demote any employee because the employee has been called for jury duty, or is serving as a grand juror or petit juror.
(b) Any employer who violates any provision of this section shall be liable in a civil action for reasonable damages suffered by an employee as a result of the violation, and an employee discharged or demoted in violation of this section shall be entitled to be reinstated to his former position.
And if they claim it's because you lied, just repeat the question they asked which covered starting the position. So long as you had nothing preventing you from starting and you did start, you did not lie.
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