Back Pay

Compensatory damages representing the wages, benefits, and other compensation a plaintiff would have earned absent the discriminatory or unlawful conduct, less any interim earnings. Back pay is often the primary quantifiable damages element in employment discrimination and wrongful termination cases, and it anchors the damages model funders use to assess case value. The calculation depends on the duration of unemployment, the plaintiff's compensation history, and the employer's defenses on mitigation.

Because back pay is typically the primary quantifiable damages element, it anchors the funder's baseline recovery model, with the calculation turning heavily on the plaintiff's compensation history, the length of unemployment, and the strength of the employer's mitigation defense. Funders test the mitigation record specifically — a plaintiff who did not reasonably seek comparable work can see their own back pay award reduced regardless of how strong the underlying discrimination claim is.