Successful workplace discrimination claims can result in substantial compensation for victims. Understanding the types of damages available helps you evaluate your case and set appropriate expectations.
Types of Damages
Discrimination victims may recover several categories of damages:
Back pay: Lost wages from the date of discrimination to resolution.
Front pay: Future lost earnings when reinstatement isn't practical.
Compensatory damages: Emotional distress, mental anguish, and other non-economic harm.
Punitive damages: Additional damages punishing particularly egregious employer conduct.
Attorney fees: Most discrimination statutes allow fee-shifting to the winning plaintiff.
Back Pay
Back pay compensates for wages lost due to discrimination. This includes salary, bonuses, commissions, raises you would have received, and the value of lost benefits (health insurance, retirement contributions). Back pay runs from the discriminatory act to judgment or settlement.
Front Pay
When reinstatement isn't possible—due to hostility, eliminated positions, or other factors—front pay substitutes. Courts estimate how long it will take you to find comparable employment and award lost earnings for that period. In some cases, front pay extends for years.
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages address non-economic harm: emotional distress, anxiety, depression, humiliation, damage to reputation, and physical symptoms of stress. Unlike back pay, there's no exact formula—amounts depend on the severity of harm and its impact on your life.
Evidence supporting compensatory damages includes testimony about emotional impact, medical records documenting treatment, and testimony from family and friends about observed changes.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages punish employers for particularly bad conduct—not just negligence, but malice or reckless indifference to your rights. Evidence supporting punitive damages includes: management knew of discrimination and did nothing, discrimination was company policy, employer retaliated against complainants, or egregious conduct showing disregard for legal obligations.
Federal Damage Caps
Title VII and the ADA cap combined compensatory and punitive damages based on employer size:
15-100 employees: $50,000
101-200 employees: $100,000
201-500 employees: $200,000
500+ employees: $300,000
These caps don't apply to back pay, front pay, or attorney fees—only compensatory and punitive damages combined. The ADEA (age discrimination) doesn't allow compensatory damages but provides liquidated (double) damages for willful violations.
State Law Advantages
State discrimination laws may provide better remedies: no damage caps or higher caps, additional categories of damages, and broader coverage. An experienced attorney evaluates which laws provide maximum recovery.
Attorney Fees
Most discrimination statutes allow prevailing plaintiffs to recover attorney fees. This means the employer pays your attorney's fees in addition to your damages—fees don't reduce your recovery. Fee-shifting makes it economically viable to pursue claims that might otherwise be too small to justify litigation costs.
Mitigation of Damages
You have a duty to mitigate damages—meaning you must make reasonable efforts to find new employment. Damages are reduced by income you earned (or could have earned) through reasonable job search. Document your job search efforts carefully.
Reinstatement and Other Equitable Relief
Courts can order equitable remedies beyond money damages: reinstatement to your former position, promotion you were wrongly denied, policy changes to prevent future discrimination, and expungement of negative records.
Calculating Your Claim's Value
Factors affecting claim value include: how much you earned and lost, how long you've been unemployed, strength of your evidence, severity of emotional impact, egregiousness of employer conduct, and which laws apply (state vs. federal caps).
Getting Legal Help
An employment attorney can evaluate potential damages in your case. Many offer free consultations to discuss case value and work on contingency—you pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you.