Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4418 To prohibit a court from awarding damages based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or actual or perceived sexual orientation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. CASTEN of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prohibit a court from awarding damages based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or actual or perceived sexual orientation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Calculations in 4 Civil Damages Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘future earnings table’’ includes 8 any table or compilation of economic data used to 9 determine— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4418.IH H4418 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4418 IH (A) how many years an individual would 1 have worked in the future; or 2 (B) the average wage an individual would 3 have earned in the future; and 4 (2) the term ‘‘protected class’’ means a group 5 of individuals sharing a common characteristic or 6 identity who are legally protected against discrimina- 7 tion. 8 SEC. 3. CALCULATIONS OF DAMAGES. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 10 sion of law, no court of the United States may award dam- 11 ages to a plaintiff in a civil action using a calculation for 12 the projected future earning potential of that plaintiff that 13 takes into account the race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or 14 actual or perceived sexual orientation of the plaintiff. 15 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 16 tion shall be construed to deny a court from ordering dam- 17 ages based on the fact that the plaintiff is a member of 18 a protected class or for the purposes of Federal civil rights 19 laws. 20 SEC. 4. INCLUSIVE FUTURE EARNINGS TABLES. 21 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 22 of this Act— 23 (1) the Secretary of Labor shall develop guid- 24 ance for forensic economists to develop inclusive fu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4418.IH H4418 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4418 IH ture earnings tables that do not rely on race, eth- 1 nicity, gender, religion, or actual or perceived sexual 2 orientation; and 3 (2) the Secretary of Labor and the Attorney 4 General shall develop guidance for States on how to 5 make calculations of future earnings in State tort 6 proceedings free of bias on the basis of race, eth- 7 nicity, gender, religion, or actual or perceived sexual 8 orientation. 9 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT. 10 (a) JUDICIAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED 11 STATES.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial Con- 14 ference of the United States shall conduct a study 15 on— 16 (A) damages awarded under Federal law 17 for personal injury; and 18 (B) the aggregate data described in para- 19 graph (1)— 20 (i) by case type, including employment 21 discrimination and tort damages; 22 (ii) by protected classes, including 23 race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and actual 24 or perceived sexual orientation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4418.IH H4418 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4418 IH (iii) any other information that the 1 Judicial Conference of the United States 2 determines is relevant. 3 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial Con- 5 ference of the United States shall submit to Con- 6 gress a report on the study conducted under para- 7 graph (1). 8 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE UNITED 9 STATES COURTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 10 of enactment of this Act, the Administrative Office of the 11 United States Courts shall conduct a study and submit 12 to Congress recommendations resulting from the study on 13 how to ensure that calculations of future earning potential 14 of plaintiffs that take into account age and disability with- 15 out conflicting with Federal equal protection laws. 16 SEC. 6. TRAINING. 17 The Federal Judicial Center shall conduct training 18 for Federal judges on how to implement this Act, includ- 19 ing instructions on how to use tables on future earnings 20 in evidence that comply with this Act. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:31 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4418.IH H4418 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS