Nigerians, including comedian Basketmouth, have reacted after it emerged that a woman was awarded $21 million after she was fired for refusing to work on Sundays for religious reasons.
60-year-old Marie Jean Pierre, a former dishwasher at the Conrad Miami Hotel, worked with the establishment for more than 10 years.
But she was fired in March 2016 because she missed work for six Sundays to attend Bethel Baptist Church in Miami.
Pierre, a devout Christian missionary born in Haiti, said that she had informed her employer when she was hired that she could not work on Sundays because of her religious beliefs.
When she was then assigned to work on Sunday, she skipped work and went to church. After missing work for six Sundays, her employment was terminated.
During an interview on Wednesday, she told NBC 6 Miami:
“I love God. No work on Sunday, because Sunday I honour God”
Pierre sued her former company for terminating her employment. Her lawsuit argued that her former employer had violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, s*x or national origin.
A jury in federal court ruled in her favour on Monday, granting her $21 million in damages, plus $35,000 in back wages and $500,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish.
Following the court ruling, Nigerians took to social media to react and it’s hilarious.
Basket mouth wrote:
$21m??!!!! And Globacom tour was on sundays that year oh!!!! kai….and I don’t play with my Sundays oh!!! $21m…..N7.5BN….Kai!!
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