Senate Bill S3517

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S3517

SPONSOR: FERNANDEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to
evidence of lost earnings or impaired earning capacity

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prohibit the consideration of evidence based on race, creed, color,
national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or
expression, sex, familial status, marital status, or status as a victim
of domestic violence in calculations of judgments.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the civil practice law and rules by adding section
4550, evidence considering earnings, to bar the consideration of
evidence concerning opinions, estimations, measures, or calculations of
judgments in personal injury or wrongful death cases from being based on
race, creed, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation,
              

gender identity or expression, sex, familial status, marital status, or
status as a victim of domestic violence.

Section 2 sets forth an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

A discriminatory disparity exists in how civil damage awards are calcu-
lated by the court system. Individuals belonging to protected classes
are consistently under-valued in the levels of restitution received
based on outcomes of civil lawsuits because their income, upon which
damage determinations are based, is lower than those individuals belong-
ing to non-protected classes.

The practice of income and identity-based damage determinations are
rooted in injustices like systemic workplace pay discrimination.
According to a survey by the National Association of Forensic Economics,
about one-half of economists said they consider race, and 92% consider
gender when projecting earning potential for an injured person in a
civil lawsuit resulting in inadequate damages reflective of and stemming
from discriminatory practices.

It has been estimated that disenfranchised groups, such as low-income
women and minorities, subjected to hazardous workplace and environmental
conditions are losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars that they
could be compensated for if damage determinations were not reflective of
entrenched discrimination, especially in the workplace.

This bill addresses the disparities in damages received which dispropor-
tionately impact those belonging to the protected classes by barring the
consideration of evidence based on protected class status when calculat-
ing damages in personal injury or wrongful death cases.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: S1068 / A5376

2019-2020: S5164

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.