Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2025
- Sponsor
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
- Committees
- Judiciary Committee (primary)
- Last action
- Jun 26, 2025
Bottom line
The bill aims to eliminate systemic bias in civil damage awards by preventing courts from considering protected characteristics when calculating future earning potential, while also promoting the development of bias-free economic guidance and judicial training.
What it actually does
This bill prohibits federal courts from awarding civil damages based on projected future earning potential that takes into account a plaintiff's actual or perceived race, ethnicity, or sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and intersex traits). It mandates the Secretary of Labor and Attorney General to develop guidance for creating inclusive future earnings tables and for states to make bias-free calculations in tort proceedings. Additionally, it requires studies by the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on damages and age/disability considerations, and mandates training for federal judges.
Proponents argue
Supporters argue that current practices for calculating future earnings often perpetuate historical and systemic discrimination by relying on demographic data that reflects existing wage gaps, leading to lower awards for individuals from marginalized groups. This bill would ensure that damages are based on individual potential rather than group averages tainted by discrimination, promoting fairness and equal justice in the legal system and rectifying long-standing inequities.
Opponents contend
Critics might contend that while the bill's intent to eliminate bias is laudable, completely ignoring demographic factors could lead to less accurate estimations of actual earning potential in some cases, as actuarial science often relies on such data for projections. Some may also argue that developing truly 'bias-free' tables is practically challenging without inadvertently introducing other forms of bias or oversimplification, potentially creating new complexities in litigation.
The bill is very short and straightforward, allowing ample time for a comprehensive evaluation of its policy implications and technical requirements.
Section 3(a)
Prohibition on Discriminatory Damage Calculations
This section explicitly forbids any court of the United States from using a plaintiff's actual or perceived race, ethnicity, or sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics including intersex traits) when calculating their projected future earning potential for civil damages. This aims to prevent historical biases, which often manifest as wage gaps, from influencing the financial compensation awarded to individuals in federal civil actions.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue this provision directly addresses and rectifies systemic biases in damage awards, ensuring that individuals from historically marginalized groups are not penalized by calculations that reflect discriminatory wage gaps rather than their true individual potential and merit. This is a crucial step towards achieving true equity in the justice system.
Critics contend
Some might argue that completely removing these demographic factors could lead to less precise economic models for future earnings, as actuarial science and economic forecasting often rely on such data to project life expectancies and career trajectories, potentially making damage calculations more speculative.
Tradeoffs
The tension lies between striving for absolute fairness by removing potentially biased demographic factors from calculations and the practical challenges of economic forecasting, which often relies on statistical data that includes these demographics to predict future outcomes.
Section 3(b)
Clarification on Damages for Protected Classes
This subsection clarifies that the prohibition in 3(a) does not prevent a court from ordering damages based on the fact that the plaintiff is a member of a protected class, especially for the purposes of Federal civil rights laws. This ensures the bill does not inadvertently undermine existing anti-discrimination lawsuits where the protected status itself is the basis for the claim of harm.
Section 4(1)
Guidance for Inclusive Economic Data
This section mandates the Secretary of Labor to develop guidance for forensic economists within 180 days of enactment. This guidance will facilitate the creation of "inclusive future earnings tables" that specifically do not rely on race, ethnicity, gender, or actual or perceived sexual orientation. The goal is to provide new, unbiased tools for calculating future earning potential in legal contexts.
Section 4(2)
State-Level Guidance for Tort Proceedings
The Secretary of Labor and the Attorney General are jointly tasked with developing guidance for States within 180 days of enactment. This guidance will help States make calculations of future earnings in their own tort proceedings free of bias based on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, and sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics including intersex traits). This aims to encourage consistent anti-bias standards across state legal systems.
Section 5(a)
Judicial Conference Study on Federal Personal Injury Damages
The Judicial Conference of the United States is mandated to conduct a study within one year of enactment on damages awarded under Federal law for personal injury. This study must include aggregate data broken down by case type (e.g., employment discrimination, torts) and by protected classes (race, ethnicity, sex, etc.), with a comprehensive report due to Congress 18 months after enactment.
Section 5(b)
Administrative Office Study on Age and Disability in Earning Potential
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts is directed to conduct a study and submit recommendations to Congress within one year of enactment. This study will focus on how to ensure that calculations of future earning potential can appropriately take into account age and disability without conflicting with Federal equal protection laws, addressing a complex area of potential bias.
Section 6
Judicial Training on Implementation
The Federal Judicial Center is mandated to conduct training for Federal judges on how to implement this Act. This includes providing instructions on how to use future earnings tables in evidence that comply with the Act's new requirements, ensuring consistent and correct application of the new anti-bias standards across all federal courts.