Bill Summary
The "Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2025" is a proposed legislation aimed at reforming how courts determine damages in civil cases, specifically by prohibiting the consideration of a plaintiff's race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation when calculating projected future earnings. The primary objectives of the bill include:
1. **Prohibition on Discriminatory Calculations**: Courts are barred from using any earnings calculations that factor in an individual's race, ethnicity, gender, or perceived sexual orientation, ensuring that all plaintiffs are treated equally regardless of these characteristics.
2. **Development of Inclusive Earnings Tables**: The Secretary of Labor is mandated to create guidelines for developing future earnings tables that are free from bias, which will aid forensic economists in making unbiased assessments of earning potentials.
3. **Study and Reporting Requirements**: The legislation requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to conduct a study on damages awarded for personal injury cases, analyzing data by case type and protected class. This study aims to provide insights into potential biases in current damage awards.
4. **Training for Judges**: The Federal Judicial Center is tasked with conducting training for federal judges to ensure they understand and can effectively implement the new guidelines established by the Act.
Overall, the bill seeks to promote fairness in civil damages calculations and reduce the impact of discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation in the judicial system.
Possible Impacts
Here are three examples of how the "Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2025" could affect people:
1. **Impact on Damages in Discrimination Cases**: Individuals who bring lawsuits for discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation may find that the potential compensation they could receive through damages is limited. Since the legislation prohibits courts from considering these factors in calculating future earnings potential, plaintiffs may receive lower damage awards, which could impact their ability to recover fully from discrimination-related harms.
2. **Creation of Inclusive Economic Tools**: The Act mandates the development of inclusive future earnings tables that do not factor in race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. This could lead to the creation of more standardized and equitable economic tools used in legal proceedings, potentially benefiting individuals from historically marginalized groups by ensuring that their compensation is based solely on objective data and not on biased assumptions.
3. **Judicial Training and Awareness**: The Act requires training for federal judges on its implementation, which could lead to a shift in how judges approach cases involving discrimination. This training may help judges become more aware of implicit biases and ensure fairer treatment of plaintiffs. Over time, this could foster a more equitable legal environment where individuals feel confident that their cases will be evaluated based on merit rather than prejudice, ultimately contributing to a more just legal system.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2190 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2190
To prohibit a court from awarding damages based on race, ethnicity,
gender, or actual or perceived sexual orientation, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 26 (legislative day, June 24), 2025
Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit a court from awarding damages based on race, ethnicity,
gender, or actual or perceived sexual orientation, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Calculations in Civil Damages
Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``future earnings table'' includes any table
or compilation of economic data used to determine, taking into
account the median earnings in a geographic region--
(A) how many years an individual would have worked
in the future; or
(B) the average wage an individual would have
earned in the future; and
(2) the term ``protected class'' means a group of
individuals sharing a common characteristic or identity who are
legally protected against discrimination.
SEC. 3. CALCULATIONS OF DAMAGES.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
court of the United States may award damages to a plaintiff in a civil
action using a calculation for the projected future earning potential
of that plaintiff that takes into account the actual or perceived race,
ethnicity, or sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, and sex characteristics including intersex traits).
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to deny a court from ordering damages based on the fact that
the plaintiff is a member of a protected class or for the purposes of
Federal civil rights laws.
SEC. 4. INCLUSIVE FUTURE EARNINGS TABLES.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act--
(1) the Secretary of Labor shall develop guidance for
forensic economists to develop inclusive future earnings tables
that do not rely on race, ethnicity, gender, or actual or
perceived sexual orientation; and
(2) the Secretary of Labor and the Attorney General shall
develop guidance for States on how to make calculations of
future earnings in State tort proceedings free of bias on the
basis of actual or perceived race, ethnicity, and sex
(including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex
characteristics including intersex traits).
SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT.
(a) Judicial Conference of the United States.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Judicial Conference of the United
States shall conduct a study on--
(A) damages awarded under Federal law for personal
injury; and
(B) the aggregate data described in paragraph (1)--
(i) by case type, including employment
discrimination and tort damages; and
(ii) by protected classes, including actual
or perceived race, ethnicity, and sex
(including gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, and sex characteristics including
intersex traits).
(2) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Judicial Conference of the United
States shall submit to Congress a report on the study conducted
under paragraph (1).
(b) Administrative Office of the United States Courts.--Not later
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts shall conduct a study and submit to
Congress recommendations resulting from the study on how to ensure that
calculations of future earning potential of plaintiffs that take into
account age and disability without conflicting with Federal equal
protection laws.
SEC. 6. TRAINING.
The Federal Judicial Center shall conduct training for Federal
judges on how to implement this Act, including instructions on how to
use tables on future earnings in evidence that comply with this Act.
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