While various federal, state, and local laws have existed for decades that make it illegal to discriminate against employees for their membership in a protected class, many employees suffer from discrimination. If you’ve experienced discrimination in your workplace, you might not know what you can do to stop it or how you can be compensated for the losses it’s caused you. When discrimination occurs, many employees face financial and emotional obstacles they now must overcome, but it shouldn’t be up to you alone to do it.
Employment discrimination damages seek to help put an employee in the position they would have been in had the discrimination not occurred. Learn more about the types of damages you can recover if you’ve suffered due to employment discrimination.
Back and Front Pay
Back and front pay are commonly awarded in many employment discrimination cases. Back pay can include the lost earnings that occurred from the time that the discrimination began. This may be awarded if an employee was wrongfully terminated, passed over for promotions, or was underpaid. Front pay refers to the lost earnings that you’ll incur in the future due to discrimination. This may be awarded if you can show that you’ll be unable to find a new position in the foreseeable future.
Benefits
Lost benefits may also be awarded as part of the back pay an employee is owed. This can include a range of benefits, such as the value of vacation and sick leave, health insurance, retirement contributions, and stock in the company.
Job Reinstatement
If you lost your job for discriminatory reasons, the court may order that you be reinstated. Of course, this is not always an option. In some cases, the position may no longer exist or the relationship between the employer and the employee may make this too difficult.
Emotional Distress
It might seem difficult to put a price on the emotional distress that discrimination caused you, but you deserve to be compensated for the pain and suffering you’ve experienced. Emotional distress can include anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, and isolation. While you might not know what an appropriate amount of compensation for emotional distress is, your employment discrimination attorney can help determine what this is worth.
Punitive Damages
Although punitive damages are not commonly awarded, they may be given in certain cases. Rather than compensatory damages that help make up for what the employee lost due to discrimination, punitive damages are used to punish their employer. Punitive damages are reserved for cases where the defendant was especially harmful.
Attorneys’ Fees and Related Costs
You might assume that if you win, your employer will have to pay your attorneys’ fees. Some may be able to have their employer cover their attorneys’ fees and other related costs they incurred, but this isn’t always the case.
Get the Compensation You Deserve
Employment discrimination can have a huge impact on every aspect of your life, and if this has happened to you, you deserve to get help. At Bantle & Levy, we understand the serious losses you might have faced due to discrimination and will work hard to help you get back what this illegal conduct has taken from you.
Contact us today if you’ve been discriminated against at work.
