Category: Employer Discrimination

When Litigation Proceeds Are Taxable

Economic damages should return a plaintiff to the position they would have been in “but for” the underlying improper act[s] by the defendant.  They should not provide a windfall to plaintiff.  In a similar vein, whether such damages are taxable is generally related to how the proceeds would have been treated if obtained in the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2019/01/when-litigation-proceeds-are-taxable/

Valuing Higher Education in Lost Income Claims

A typical lost earnings analysis endeavors to value the personal income that was lost due to injury or loss of employment opportunities.  This is more challenging when income is not yet established, e.g. when the injured Plaintiff has yet to enter the workforce or there is evidence that the Plaintiff would have otherwise altered their …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2018/09/valuing-higher-education-in-lost-income-claims/

Supreme Court To Address Use of Statistics For Class Action Certification

The April 2013 Supreme Court decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864, was a profound change benefitting companies facing class action lawsuits.  The Court held that a plaintiff seeking certification must establish through “evidentiary proof” that damages can be measured on a class-wide basis.  Individual damage issues can defeat class certification where those issues …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/06/supreme-court-to-address-use-of-statistics-for-class-action-certification/

VC Firm Wins Gender Based Failure to Promote / Wrongful Termination Case

Last week a half male/half female jury determined that Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (“Kleiner Perkins”), one of the country’s most prominent venture capital (“VC”) firms, did not discriminate against junior partner Ellen Pao (“Pao”). Pao was seeking $16 million in economic damages in addition to punitive damages to compensate for the alleged inequitable promotion …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/03/vc-firm-wins-gender-based-failure-to-promote-wrongful-termination-case/

Anti-poaching settlement approved at $425 million

U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh has blessed a $415 million settlement in the antitrust class action suit against Apple Inc., Google Inc. and others.  The defendants were accused of illegally agreeing not to poach each other’s software engineers.  A prior settlement deal at $325 million was rejected by the Court as insufficient.

Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/03/anti-poaching-settlement-approved-at-425-million/

Statistical Sophistication Would Have Provided a Different Liability Answer

Economists and other financial experts are often hired to assess damages, assuming liability.  However liability can sometimes be established or disproven based on statistics. For example, in a recently affirmed case involving employment discrimination, the application of a simple method failed to provide the Court with information that would likely have changed their decision.  The …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/11/statistical-sophistication-would-have-provided-a-different-liability-answer/