Sexist, Racist Gap In Personal Injury Awards

In a case that sums up an ethical dilemma, the settlement for a male fetus killed in a car accident was calculated as up to 84 percent higher than that of a six-year-old girl, also killed in the crash. The disparity was rooted in the estimate of how much the two could expect to earn over their lifetime, or “future lost income.” Critics are troubled by the ethical quandary involved in making that determination. Proponents say estimations are fair, using current data. When formulas for determining payouts under the September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund relied on race- and gender-based tables, the uproar led the Fund to change course and adopt race-neutral male tables to assess all damages. Protesting the original formulas, the National Organization for Women wrote, “This practice, we believe, threatens the constitutional rights of women and minorities, spinning into the future a history of state and private discrimination against these groups.” Judge Jack Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York, who has overseen such cases, wrote recently that: “Race and ethnicity are not, and should not, be a determinant of individual achievement. To support such a proposition distorts the American Dream. A traditional, automatic, unthinking approach by experts in the field can no longer be tolerated.”