The Intrinsic Value of Economic Testimony in a Employment Discrimination Lawsuit
Using a jury's verdict to determine the value of expert economic testimony
Often times it is difficult for an attorney to determine what value hiring an expert adds to their case. One way to value expert testimony is to consider the award that the jury determines in relationship to the expert's damage estimate. A recent employment case in San Antonio, Texas is particularly insightful.
In this employment discrimination case, the plaintiff hired an indiviudal to calculate back and front pay losses. The plaintiff, who began working at the employer in 1979, was terminated in 2005 for opening a confidential document on her computer, while a male employee, who also opened a confidential document a short time later, was not fired or disciplined. The defense hired a rebutal economic expert.
The plaintiff's economic expert opined that the plaintiff had suffered about $950,000 in back and front pay losses. In contrast the defense hired an economist who opined that the plaintiff had lost, at most, $28,000. The defense expert opined that with the plaintiff's background, which was in computers, he was more than capable of obtaining a job that paid as much or more as he earned at the defenfant/employer.
The jury agreed that the plaintiff was the victim of discrimination and awarded, economic damages, mental anguish, and attorneys fees. The award for economic damages is quite insightful in this case.
The jury awarded the plaintiff $330,888 in front and back pay losses. The award was clearly less than the plaintiff's economic expert but more than the defense expert's analysis. One way to look at the value of the economist testimony is to look at what the award would have been had there been had their not been an opposing economist hired by the defense. Conceptually, the jury's award suggest that the value of the defendant's testimony was approximately $619,112.
That is the $950,000 opinion of the plaintiff economist minus the $330,888 award from the jury. The idea is that the jury would have awarded the plaintiff for the full amount of the award had the defense attorney not testified.
Often times it is difficult for an attorney to determine what value hiring an expert adds to their case. One way to value expert testimony is to consider the award that the jury determines in relationship to the expert's damage estimate. A recent employment case in San Antonio, Texas is particularly insightful.
In this employment discrimination case, the plaintiff hired an indiviudal to calculate back and front pay losses. The plaintiff, who began working at the employer in 1979, was terminated in 2005 for opening a confidential document on her computer, while a male employee, who also opened a confidential document a short time later, was not fired or disciplined. The defense hired a rebutal economic expert.
The plaintiff's economic expert opined that the plaintiff had suffered about $950,000 in back and front pay losses. In contrast the defense hired an economist who opined that the plaintiff had lost, at most, $28,000. The defense expert opined that with the plaintiff's background, which was in computers, he was more than capable of obtaining a job that paid as much or more as he earned at the defenfant/employer.
The jury agreed that the plaintiff was the victim of discrimination and awarded, economic damages, mental anguish, and attorneys fees. The award for economic damages is quite insightful in this case.
The jury awarded the plaintiff $330,888 in front and back pay losses. The award was clearly less than the plaintiff's economic expert but more than the defense expert's analysis. One way to look at the value of the economist testimony is to look at what the award would have been had there been had their not been an opposing economist hired by the defense. Conceptually, the jury's award suggest that the value of the defendant's testimony was approximately $619,112.
That is the $950,000 opinion of the plaintiff economist minus the $330,888 award from the jury. The idea is that the jury would have awarded the plaintiff for the full amount of the award had the defense attorney not testified.
Labels: Damage awards, wrongful termination
posted by The Experts @ 12:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home