(a) No employer in this state may discharge any employee or subject any employee to an adverse employment action solely because he or she serves on any jury empanelled under any state or federal statute; provided, however, that the employee reports for work on his or her next regularly scheduled hour after being dismissed from any jury.

Terms Used In Alabama Code 12-16-8.1

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(b) Any employee who is so discharged or subjected to an adverse employment action shall have a cause of action against the employer for the discharge or adverse employment action in any court of competent jurisdiction in this state and shall be entitled to recover both actual and punitive damages.
(c) The provisions of this section are supplemental to any statutes, existing or to be enacted in the future, that are designed to protect and safeguard a citizen’s right and duty to serve on a lawful jury, and the provisions of this section shall not repeal or supersede the provisions of any law not directly inconsistent herewith.
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