Opinion ID: 768847
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Statutory Limitation of Front Pay

Text: 46 Pollard cross-appeals on the basis that front pay should not be subject to the limitations on compensatory damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1981a. The district court noted that it was bound by this Circuit's decision in Hudson v. Reno, 130 F.3d 1193 (6th Cir. 1997), which held that front pay was subject to the $300,000 statutory cap because front pay was an element of future pecuniary losses. Pollard now argues that front pay is not an element of future pecuniary losses, but is instead a replacement for the remedy of reinstatement in situations where reinstatement would be inappropriate. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in an amicus brief, agrees with Pollard that the Hudson case was wrongly decided. 47 First, the argument is made that § 1981a, by its very terms, explicitly excludes remedies which were traditionally available under Title VII from the statutory cap, and notes that front pay was a traditionally available remedy. Second, the argument is made that the legislative history of the statutory cap on compensatory damages clearly indicates that front pay was not intended to be included in it. Third, plaintiff claims that the Hudson decision misinterpreted existing Sixth Circuit cases examining the nature of front pay as a remedy. And finally, Pollard and the EEOC argue that public policy concerns weigh in favor of excluding front pay from the $300,000 statutory cap on compensatory damages and that other Circuits have reached a conclusion contrary to Hudson. See Martini v. Federal Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, 178 F.3d 1336, 1348-49 (D.C. Cir. 1999); Medlock v. Ortho Biotech, Inc., 164 F.3d 545, 556 (10th Cir. 1999); Kramer v. Logan County Sch. Dist. No. R-1, 157 F.3d 620, 625-26 (8th Cir. 1998). See also Rivera v. Baccarat, Inc., 34 F. Supp.2d 870, 878 (S.D.N.Y. 1999); Bizelli v. Parker Amchem, 17 F. Supp.2d 949, 954 n.2 (E.D. Mo. 1998). 48 We agree with these arguments, but our hands are tied. One panel of this court may not overturn the decision of another panel of this court--that may only be accomplished through an en banc consideration of the argument. Plaintiff does not purport to distinguish Hudson. Therefore, we must decline to overturn the district court's decision that front pay is included in the compensatory damages statutory cap found at 42 U.S.C. § 1981a. 49