What would Daubert say about those damages? 2.20.2007

From a popular listserv:

In the calculation of lost fringe benefits in a wrongful termination case I included the cost of medical insurance that the employer had been providing to the employee. The company’s medical plan covered the spouse of the employee so the cost of the benefit was significant. The attorney taking my deposition asked that if the plaintiff was able to secure medical benefits in a new job should those be taken into consideration as an offset to the loss of medical benefits at his prior place of employment and I said that yes I would have to take that into consideration but that to my knowledge he was not covered or was not eligible for coverage in any of the jobs he has had since his termination.

The plaintiff’s wife is self employed and on their income tax returns there is a Schedule C which shows her earnings. The income tax return also shows that she paid $6,000 in self employed health insurance. The attorneys question was that:

if the wife was paying for heath insurance and if the husband (plaintiff) was covered under that insurance shouldn’t that be treated as deduction against the loss of medical benefits from his prior employer (defendant)?

Also if the plaintiff was eligible for health insurance at another employer but did not elect to be covered because he could not afford the employee part of the cost should the defendant be given a credit for the medical insurance that was available but not elected by the plaintiff?

Thoughts?