3d Cir. Model Jury Instr. (Civil) 6.4.4

Model 2

You may determine separately a monetary amount equal to the present value of any future 3

wages and benefits that [plaintiff] would reasonably have earned from [defendant -employer] had 4

[plaintiff] not [describe adverse employment action] for the period from the date of your verdict 5

through a reasonable period of time in the future. From this figure you must subtract the amount 6

of earnings and benefits [plaintiff] will receive from other employment during that time. [Plaintiff] 7

has the burden of proving these damages by a preponderance of the evidence. 8

[If you find that [plaintiff] is entitled to recovery of future earnings from [defendant], then 9

you must reduce any award by the amount of the expenses that [plaintiff] would have incurred in 10

making those earnings.] 11

You must also reduce any award to its present value by considering the interest that 12

[plaintiff] could earn on the amount of the award if [he/she] made a relatively risk-free investment. 13

The reason you must make this reduction is because an award of an amount representing future 14

loss of earnings is more valuable to [plaintiff] if [he/she] receives it today than if it were received 15

at the time in the future when it would have been earned. It is more valuable because [plaintiff] 16

can earn interest on it for the period of time between the date of the award and the date [he/she] 17

would have earned the money. So you should decrease the amount of any award for loss of future 18

earnings by the amount of interest that [plaintiff] can earn on that amount in the future. 19

20

[Add the following instruction if defendant claims “after-acquired evidence” of misconduct 21

by the plaintiff: 22

[Defendant-employer] contends that it would have made the same decision to [describe 23

employment decision] [plaintiff] because of conduct that [defendant] discovered after it made the 24

employment decision. Specifically, [defendant] claims that when it became aware of the [describe 25

the after-discovered misconduct], [defendant] would have made the decision at that point had it 26

not been made previously. 27

If [defendant] proves by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have made the same 28

decision and would have [describe employment decision] [plaintiff] because of [describe after -29

discovered evidence], then you may not award [plaintiff] any amount for wages that would have 30

been received from [defendant] in the future.] 31