Arlington Heights man claims employer fired him for jury duty

An Arlington Heights man’s claim he lost his job as an electronics sales associate because of jury duty has merit, a federal judge said in a ruling this month.

Chief Judge James Holderman appointed an attorney to represent James Henders, who was fired last month by the hhgregg electronics and appliance store in Arlington Heights, in a possible discrimination claim.

According to Holderman’s filing, sales have been slow since the store opened in September, resulting in warnings to most sales associates, including Henders, about earning insufficient commissions.

On Jan. 17, Henders reported for jury service and learned that he was selected to hear a trial that would last six to eight weeks. The criminal trial of United States v. Hollnagel stems from accusations of a fraudulent financing scheme prosecutors say deprived investors of profits from commercial aircraft sales.

Three days after Henders informed his supervisors, they told him he was being fired for receiving a third and final warning.

Holderman wrote that only one other sales associate was terminated for being “in draw,” and that associate was transferred, not fired outright.

“Moreover, it is plausible to infer that the real reason for Mr. Henders’ termination was his jury service, because the only difference between Mr. Henders and the other similarly situated sales associates is that Mr. Henders had just informed hhgregg that he would need to miss work for six to eight weeks because of his jury service,” the judge wrote.

A manager at the Arlington Heights hhgregg store referred questions to corporate headquarters. Integrated Corporate Relations Inc. Senior Vice President Kim Paone said on behalf of hhgregg that the company isn’t commenting at this time.

Court documents state that hhgregg has a policy to pay its employees minimum wage for up to 30 days of jury service, with 50 percent pay after that.

Holderman wrote that the store policy provides a plausible motive for hhgregg’s actions, because “hhgregg may have fired Mr. Henders to avoid paying him under the policy.”

Henders couldn’t be reached for comment.