The following is a reprint from "THE LEGAL INTELLIGENCER"
Plaintiff: Jury Duty Led to Firing

By Claudia N. Ginanni Special to the Legal

.....A lawsuit filed in federal court this week alleges that an African-American supervisor's decision to fire a Hispanic employee at the Free Library of Philadelphia was motivated partly by race - and partly because he served on a jury after she had instructed him no to show up in court. .....Attorney Mark S. Scheffer of Larry Pitt & Associates filed the suit on behalf of William Marquess of Philadelphia, who is described in the complaint as a "white, Hispanic male."

.....According to the suit, Marquess was hired as a library assistant at the Northeast Regional Library branch on Cottman Avenue on March 4, 1997.

.....He received notice for jury duty on April 28, but was excused as the request of his supervisor, Viola Jones, described as a "black female" in the suit.

.....Marquess received another notice for jury duty on July 7. This time, he went to court and was selected to serve on a jury in a medical malpractice insurance case. Late that afternoon, he returned to the library and told Jones that he had been chosen to serve, he says,

.....But Jones, saying the library was shorthanded, threatened to fire him. Marquess he didn't report to work the next day, the complaint says.

.....Marquess reported for jury service despite the warning, he says, and he obtained a letter from Judge Marvin R. Halbert explaining that he was serving as a juror in a major trial.

.....Marquess alleges that when he gave the letter to Hones, she said, "Old white men don't run this library; I do," and threw the letter in the trash.

.....According to Marquess, Hones began to make negative comments when he returned to work after serving on the jury.

.....Although he had received a "satisfactory" performance evaluation before the incident, he now began to receive poor and unsatisfactory evaluations and reprimands.

.....Finally, Marquess was terminated on Sept. 5, 1997.

.....His complaint, asserting claims under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act and Pennsylvania law, claims that his service on a jury and his race each "played a role, or was a factor, in defendants' termination" him.

.....The case, Marquess v.City of Philadelphia, 98-cv-1117, has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Herbert J. Hutton.