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Have you ever wondered who pays jurors their daily fee for serving? In D.C., it’s JPMorgan Chase & Co. In Washington, D.C. a juror is paid $34 dollar per day for serving.
If you are chosen for a trial in the District, you receive $30 per day and $4 travel subsidy. A Juror that is not selected for a trial only receives the $4 travel fee for that day.
But now, a lawsuit has been filed against JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Federal Court for unjust enrichment and violation of the Consumer Protection Act. It accuses JPMorgan Chase of deceptive and unlawful schemes to deprive jurors of their full payment for jury service.
In D.C. a juror receives a debit card when they check in, with payments uploaded on the cards daily after 5 pm, according to how they serve.
But JPMorgan Chase is being accused of deceptive fees. Fees on the Chase debit cards include $1.50 monthly charges for non-use of the card; approximately $5 for use of out-of-network ATMs; and a $0.45 fee for checking the balance of the card. If a juror wanted to receive the debit card funds by check, he or she would be charged $15 in fees.
A D.C. juror would pay a $7 fee charge for walking into a Chase branch to ask that debit card funds be converted to cash,
Since ATMs don’t dispense money in $1 increments, “jurors with balances in odd dollar increments — including all jurors who receive the statutory $4 travel allowance only — are unable to obtain their full balance for ‘free,’ as Chase claims.”
The D.C. Attorney said – “Chase has intentionally designed the debit card system such that the fees it charges prevent jurors from actually being able to access the funds to which they are entitled by statute.”
