As long as you have evidence to back up your complaint, it is worth the fight to request Compensatory Damages.
Your EEOC discrimination claim can be very strong depending on the evidence. As you will read below, your evidence has to clearly demonstrate discrimination and the harm it has caused you. This is the information the EEOC judge uses to decide your claim and how much the judge will award in compensatory damages.
The April 1995 settlement agreement requires the federal agency to pay proven compensatory damages. EEOC Regulation 64 Fed. Reg. 37,644, 37,660 (to be codified and hereinafter referred to as 29 C.F.R. § 1614.504(a)) provides that any settlement agreement knowingly and voluntarily agreed to by the parties shall be binding on both parties. Moreover, Commission precedent establishes that a complainant is entitled to proven compensatory damages for allegations of discrimination if they are provided for in a settlement agreement. See Browne v. Department of Agriculture, EEOC Appeal No. 01944256 (July 17, 1995).
Pursuant to section 102(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, a complainant may receive, in addition to equitable remedies, compensatory damages for past and future pecuniary losses (i.e., out-of-pocket expenses) and non-pecuniary losses (e.g., pain and suffering, mental anguish). 42 U.S.C. §1981a(b)(3).
For an employer with more than 500 employees, such as the agency, the limit of liability for future pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages is $300,000.
The Supreme Court has confirmed that the Commission possesses the legal authority to require federal agencies to pay compensatory damages. See West v. Gibson, 527 U.S. 212 (1999).
The particulars of what relief may be awarded, and the proof necessary to obtain that relief, are set forth in detail in Compensatory and Punitive Damages
Available Under Section 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, EEOC Notice No. N-915.002 (July 14, 1992) (Compensatory Damages Notice).
The complainant must submit evidence to show that the agency’s discriminatory conduct directly or proximately caused the losses for which damages are sought.
See Damiano v. United States Postal Service, EEOC Request No. 05980311 (February 26, 1999).
The amount awarded should reflect the extent to which the agency’s discriminatory action directly or proximately caused harm to complainant and the extent to which other factors may have played a part. See Compensatory Damages Notice at 11-12.
The amount of non-pecuniary damages should also reflect the nature and severity of the harm to complainant, and the duration or expected duration of the harm.
A complainant is required to provide evidence that will allow a federal agency to assess the merits of complainant’s request for emotional distress damages.
See Carle v. Department of the Navy, EEOC Appeal No. 01922369 (January 5, 1993). Pecuniary Damages
