Prior to 1991, the purpose of Title VII remedies was to put the victim in the position he or she would have been if the victim had never been subjected to the illegal discrimination to make whole.
Example: Sponge Bob Square Pants was fired because of his religion. If he succeeded on his claim, the court would order his employer to reinstate him to his former position (flipping hamburgers); pay all his wages that he lost, plus interest; pay him out-of-pocket expenses incurred due to the loss of his job (such health-insurance payments) and; retroactive seniority.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 expanded the remedies to include compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages are money paid to compensate for direct losses due to discrimination and may include non-money losses–such as emotional pain, suffering, and mental anguish–and future lost income (pecuniary loss). Punitive damages are imposed to punish a defendant (employer) and to deter future discriminatory conduct.
Compensatory and punitive damages under Title VII are capped at $300,000 for large employers. However, in some states there may not be a cap or it may not be permitted at all. In Pennsylvania for example, there is no cap for punitive or compensatory damages.
Another remedy under Title VII is the award of attorney’s fees for discrimination victims who win their cases in court. This is very important because, in some cases, legal fees can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also, the possibility of having to pay attorney’s fees forces many employers to settle the case out of court, because attorney’s fees may be of greater cost than awarding back pay, compensatory, and punitive damages to the victim.
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