Nigerians, including comedian Basket Mouth, 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 honor 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, sex or national origin.
A jury in federal court ruled in her favor 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!!
