Miami hotel dishwasher awarded $21.5m after jury rules hotel violated her religious beliefs by making her work on Sundays
Jean Marie Pierre had worked at the Hilton property for nearly a decade and her religious needs were accommodated for most of the time she spent there
A 60-year-old former dishwasher at the Miami Conrad sued the Hilton hotels for violating her religious beliefs by continuously making the religious woman work on Sundays before firing her. Jean Marie Pierre eventually won the lawsuit and now has been awarded $21.5 million in damages by a federal jury, according to reports.
Marrie Pierre, however, will not get the intended amount because punitive damages, which are meant to teach defendants a lesson, are capped at $300,000 in federal court where her case went to trial, according to the Daily Mail.
The woman's lawyer, Marc Brumer, on Tuesday said: "The jury was not aware of the cap. They thought that they punished Hilton hotel with $21 million [in damages]."