Documenting the Loss of Earnings in Employment Law Cases

Employment law cases involve such situations of wrongful termination, sexual harassment, age or sex discrimination, whistleblowers, and Americans with Disabilities Act cases.

The  employability expert  can add valuable services to assist the Plaintiff or Defense attorney in determining the impact of the termination on the Plaintiff’s ability to return to work in their previous occupation, use their skills to perform related occupations, and/or earn money equivalent to their pre-termination earnings. In addition, the expert will consider the reasonableness of the Plaintiff’s job search efforts to mitigate their damages.

The employability assessment consists of an in-person diagnostic vocational interview of the Plaintiff to determine their age, education, past work experience, previously learned skills, and medical limitations, if any, due to their termination. In addition, the expert may administer a battery of  vocational tests  to assess the individual’s achievement levels, skills, and aptitudes. A transferability of skills evaluation is performed by the vocational expert to determine what types of occupations the Plaintiff can perform if they cannot return to their pre-termination employment. Based on this data, the vocational expert will determine what jobs, if any, the terminated Plaintiff can perform and what these jobs pay in the local labor market.

In addition, OAS  vocational experts  will perform a local labor market survey to document the availability of jobs the Plaintiff can perform in the local labor market and the wages for these jobs. The salaries for the open jobs are compared to the average earnings for the jobs in the Plaintiff’s geographical area as reported by federal and state Department of Labor wage surveys.

The employability expert will also review the Plaintiff’s job search to determine if the job search conducted was reasonable. In order to perform this analysis, the expert will review the individual’s resume and job search records.

A case example was a middle-aged woman who was allegedly terminated from her occupation as a Fast Food Restaurant Manager due to racial discrimination. An in-person evaluation was conducted and it was determined that the woman had applied for and was offered many jobs, but rejected them as she did not want to work on Saturdays. However, at the time of her interview, she was working as a Cafeteria Manager at a salary equal to her pre-termination job. Therefore, there was no future loss of earnings.

A vocational expert can be of great help in employment law cases in assisting in  documenting the case damages . Vocational experts can testify on matters such as the reasonableness of the plaintiff’s job search after their termination and the individual’s post-termination earning capacity.

In fact, the Supreme Court in New Jersey found in the Quinlan Case that in order to prove future lost earnings, the Plaintiff attorney must hire a vocational expert, as well as an economist.

Occupational Assessment Services, Inc. (OAS) is one of the leading companies providing  vocational expert services in EmploymentLaw cases  in the United States. We have extensive experience in working for both Plaintiff and Defendant in Employment law cases.

Consult  oasinc.org  or contact OAS at  800-292-1919  to obtain a fee schedule, professional qualifications, and sample employment law report, as well as to discuss how OAS can help with your case. Occupational Assessment Services, Inc., with offices in NJ, NY, FL, TX, CT, & CA, is one of the foremost companies providing Vocational Experts services in the United States for Plaintiff and Defense Employment Law Attorneys.