Jurors last week awarded Miami woman, Jackalyn P. Strachan, $150,000 after her boss refused to pay her, then fired her, for serving on jury.

Strachan, 57, was a longtime Hall security supervisor. In April 2007, she was stationed at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza office building. Strachan approached company owner Arthur Hall, a former police officer, about the jury summons and he became angry, saying she should skip court for work, according to her lawsuit filed by lawyers Feiler and Martin Leach. Strachan served three days on the jury that convicted drifter Ruben Maldonado, 43, for fatally beating a homeless man with a tree branch in Homestead. Strachan was not paid for the three days of jury duty, and ended up loosing her job because of it.

The six-person jury last week found that Miami security firm Hall Investigation Service wrongfully denied wages and fired Strachan for serving as a juror in a murder trial in April 2007. ``The irony is amazing,'' said her lawyer, Michael Feiler. ``I think the jury in our case understood jury service is a fundamental part of what makes our system work. They wanted to send a message that you can't punish people for doing their duty.''