Title Vii And Section 1981 In Bronx
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FAQ
A damage cap is a law that restricts how much a plaintiff can recover from a defendant. The point of a damage cap is to help the economy. It prevents defendants such as hospitals and the government from large payouts that could make them go bankrupt.
While both statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, Section 1981 contains no damages cap. The most a plaintiff can recover in “non-economic” compensatory and punitive damages in a Title VII is $300,000.00.
§ 1981 (Section 1981) bears the burden of initially pleading and ultimately proving that racial bias was the “but for” cause of the plaintiff's injury.
While both statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, Section 1981 contains no damages cap. The most a plaintiff can recover in “non-economic” compensatory and punitive damages in a Title VII is $300,000.00. 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b).
While similar in protecting against unjust discrimination, Section 1981 differs from Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Donnelley and Sons Co., 541 U.S. 369 (2004), the U.S. Supreme Court held that § 1981 claims are governed by the federal “catch-all” four-year statute of limitations.
However, discrimination is a state of mind and, therefore, notoriously hard to prove. Sophisticated employers are well aware that discrimination is illegal. Thus, most cases are established through circumstantial evidence.
It applies to all private employers and labor organizations, but not federal, state, or local government employers. Section 1981 is enforced by individuals, not a federal agency.