Fifth Circuit Continues to Deny Pain and Suffering in Age Discrimination Cases
On December 16, 2016, in Vaughn v. Anderson Regional Medical Center, the Fifth Circuit (Covering Louisiana) confirmed that a person complaining of being discriminated against because of their age cannot recover pain and suffering damages. Interestingly though, the Court seemed to indicate that it wanted to find otherwise, but it was forced to adhere to a 1977 case that denied these damages until there was a change in the law. In other words, the Court appears to want to allow age discrimination plaintiffs to be able to recover pain and suffering damages, but it needs the Supreme Court or an en banc review of the 5th Circuit to do so.
Other circuits have determined that pain and suffering damages are available to age discrimination plaintiffs. So, the issue is ripe for the Supreme Court to review the matter and resolve the circuit split. For now, however, employees are not entitled to recover pain and suffering when alleging age related discrimination.
