Juror Laid-Off After Being Assigned To Trial Of Bin Laden's Son-In-Law
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- The jury has been kept anonymous in the terror trial of Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, because the case is so sensitive.
Juror Laid-Off After Being Assigned To Trial Of Bin Laden Son-In-Law
Somehow the employer of "juror 21" found out that the woman was on the jury and laid her off, 1010 WINS' Eileen Lehpamer reported.
The woman, a single mother of three, worked as an accountant for a major school bus company.
She told the court that her employer said that it would be to her benefit to lose her job so that she could collect unemployment while serving jury duty.
Judge Lewis Kaplan said that firing an employee over jury duty is against federal law and appointed the woman a lawyer, The New York Times reported.
Judge Kaplan said that he has seen this happen in the past in the terrorism trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, The Times reported.
"My personal view is that the behavior of the employer is cavalier and — and I choose the word very carefully — unpatriotic," Judge Kaplan said when the issue came up in 2010.
In that case, a juror asked to be excused when her employer, a Westchester County medical office, would only pay her for five days of service.
Judge Kaplan has appointed Juror 21 an attorney at no cost.
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