How much is emotional distress worth?
A. Noneconomic damages, such as emotional distress and humiliation, are obviously difficult to measure. Nevertheless, we routinely ask juries and judges to put a dollar value on these items, because money is the only way the legal system can compensate employees for these damages. Many employees feel that noneconomic damages are the most valuable aspects of their case. While these damages are very real and very important to you, they are also highly subjective. Persuading a jury or a judge of the value of these items can be difficult and uncertain. There is no science or rule of thumb that will predict the amount of noneconomic damages you may receive if you win your case, but lawyers look for several factors in presenting noneconomic damages, such as the nature and severity, and duration of the employer’s conduct, whether the plaintiff has had to seek medical or psychological help, the degree of economic damages the plaintiff has suffered, and whether there are other causes of the pla
