Have a general question about employment law? Want to share a story? I welcome all comments and questions. I can't give legal advice here about specific situations but will be glad to discuss general issues and try to point you in the right direction. If you need legal advice, contact an employment lawyer in your state. Remember, anything you post here will be seen publicly, and I will comment publicly on it. It will not be confidential. Govern yourself accordingly. If you want to communicate with me confidentially as Donna Ballman, Florida lawyer rather than as Donna Ballman, blogger, my firm's website is here.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

What Can I Get If I Win A Case Against My Employer?

Most employment cases aren't going to be those big headline multi-million dollar awards. Usually, if you're lucky, you might recover lost wages and benefits. Very few cases result in big money for the former employee, so don't assume you have a winning lottery ticket as soon as a coworker makes a racist or sexist comment.

Damages are the monetary value of the losses that a judge or jury awards to you if you win a lawsuit. They have to have been reasonably foreseeable, and not speculative. Compensatory damages are those that compensate for the actual loss. Punitive damages are those which punish someone who commits an intentional tort to act as a deterrent to future such behavior.

In employment, different types of cases can result in different types of damages. Here are some of the types of damages you might see awarded:

Read more on AOL Jobs.



Thanks again to Gina Misiroglu of Red Room for putting me in touch with the AOL people!

1 comment:

  1. how much do you think ill get paid for my boss spraining my wrist

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments and general questions but this isn't the place to ask confidential legal questions. If you need an employee-side employment lawyer, try http://exchange.nela.org/findalawyer to locate one in your state.