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Committee advances bill barring use of immigration status or disability to reduce lost-earnings awards; member raises concerns
Summary
A bill that would prohibit reducing civil damages for lost earnings based on immigration status or disability was moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee after a member questioned how the change would affect the calculation of earning capacity.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on May 12 advanced legislation that would amend the civil practice law and rules governing the calculation of damages for lost earnings in personal-injury and wrongful-death actions.
Senate Print (listed in the transcript as "3, bridal 8") by Senator Fernandez seeks to limit the categories that can be used to reduce awards for lost earnings, specifically prohibiting reductions based on a person's immigration status or disability. During committee discussion, a member raised concerns about the practical effect of the change on determining a plaintiff's earning capacity.
"When you're dealing specifically with lost earnings ... and you're specifically saying that they shall not consider the person's capacity to do work, or their status to be able to do work, I think that that's trouble," said Senator Martins during the exchange, expressing concern that the statute could bar consideration of factors that are directly relevant to earning capacity.
A response during the discussion clarified that the bill would not eliminate consideration of immigration status or disability from the factual analysis used to estimate lost earnings; rather, committee discussion explained that an award could not be reduced solely because of those categories. The transcript records that proponents said such factors could remain part of the analysis but could not serve as a basis to deduct an award.
The committee voted to report the bill to the floor. Senator Martins was recorded as voting in the negative. The transcript does not record any amendments adopted during the committee consideration.
