S 2190119th CongressIn Committee

Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2025

Introduced: Jun 26, 2025

Civil Rights & Justice

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2025 aims to reform how courts calculate damages for lost future earnings in federal civil cases. The core prohibition is that courts may not award damages using calculations that depend on a plaintiff’s actual or perceived race, ethnicity, or sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics). To implement this, the bill requires the development of inclusive future-earnings tables that exclude bias from protected characteristics, and it directs federal agencies to guide both federal courts and states in using bias-free methods. The act also mandates studies and reporting on damages practices and provides for training of judges on applying these rules. Importantly, it does not bar damages tied to a plaintiff’s protected class under federal civil rights laws; it merely restricts how future-earnings calculations are conducted.

Key Points

1Prohibition on future-earnings calculations: Courts may not award damages for projected future earnings if the calculation takes into account a plaintiff’s race, ethnicity, or sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics).
2Definitions: The bill defines “future earnings table” as any data used to project future work years or average future wages, and “protected class” as groups protected against discrimination.
3Inclusive future earnings tables: Within 180 days of enactment, the Secretary of Labor must issue guidance to forensic economists to develop tables that do not rely on race, ethnicity, or sex, and the Secretary of Labor and the Attorney General must guide states on bias-free future-earnings calculations in state tort proceedings.
4Studies and reporting: The Judicial Conference must study damages in federal personal-injury cases (and related data by case type and protected classes) within 1 year and report to Congress within 18 months. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts must study how to handle age and disability in earning-potential calculations in a way compatible with equal protection laws.
5Training: The Federal Judicial Center must train federal judges on implementing this Act and using compliant future-earnings tables.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Plaintiffs and defendants in federal civil cases where damages include future earning potential (e.g., personal injury, employment-related claims) and the forensic economists who prepare these calculations; federal judges who apply damages calculations.Secondary group/area affected- States and state tort proceedings, which will receive guidance to apply bias-free future-earnings calculations; the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the economy of forensic economics (actuaries/experts) who produce earnings tables.Additional impacts- Could shift standard practices toward standardized, non-discriminatory earnings models, potentially increasing time and cost in litigation due to new guidance and training requirements.- Maintains room for damages based on protected-class considerations for civil rights violations, but not within the framework of future-earnings calculations.- Commissioned studies may yield data that influence future policy or refinement of damages practices beyond the scope of this act.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 7, 2025