WASHINGTON — While jury duty is a civic responsibility, it can sometimes be an expensive inconvenience: A new lawsuit says jurors in D.C.’s Superior Court face exorbitant fees charged by a bank that deprives them of the maximum payment of $34 per day.
Attorneys for William Mark Scott, a lawyer himself, have filed a class action suit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. in D.C. federal court for unjust enrichment and violation of the Consumer Protection Act. In several jurisdictions, including D.C., courts pay jurors by issuing Chase debit cards instead of paper checks.
The lawsuit claims: “Chase has devised a deceptive and unlawful scheme to deprive jurors of their full payments for jury service.”
A juror who is chosen to sit on a trial in the District receives $30 per day and a daily $4 travel subsidy. A juror who is not selected to sit on a trial receives only the travel subsidy for that day.
Jurors receive the debit card when they check in, with payments uploaded onto the cards daily after 5 p.m., according to the court website.
According to the suit, “Chase uses its monopolistic control over jurors’ funds to steal captive jurors’ money by accessing unconscionable and 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, but according to the suit and the Chase website, the nearest Chase branch is 90 miles away in Delaware.
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.”
While jurors can use the debit cards to make purchases, Scott said most cards contain unused funds, which is called a “rump” balance, that is eventually chewed up by inactivity fees.
“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,” according to the suit.
Leah Gurowitz, director of media and public relations for D.C. Courts told WTOP the court began using the debit card system in August, 2011, at the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service.
According to Gurowitz, “The United States Debit Card Program is administered by the Department of Treasury with the assistant of its agent, JPMorgan Chase,” and the decision to utilize Chase is Treasury’s.
Gurowitz said the majority of jurors serving more than one day seem to be satisfied with the debit card payments.
“Jurors serving only one day are having problems trying to redeem the cards at ATMs, because most do not disburse one dollar bills,” Gurowitz said. “The courts have been satisfied with the administrative efficiencies and fraud/loss protections provided by the debit card program.”
“The courts worked with the financial institution which has ATM machines located in the courthouse to cash a least a portion of the juror cards without a fee,” Gurowitz said.
Gurowitz said Treasury “has established several ‘inside the network’ institutions to prevent the jurors from being charged a fee,” including machines displaying Chase, All point, Plus, and Accel logos.
A Chase corporate spokesperson contacted by WTOP declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In 2014, the company announced it was getting out of the prepaid card business, and would no longer solicit new prepaid card business.
However, in 2017 the company continues to support current clients.
