Court Opinion

ID: 9482492
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:51:55.171681+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:01.793018
License: Public Domain

TJOFLAT, Chief Judge,
concurring in part, dissenting in part:
I concur with the court’s conclusion that 29 U.S.C. § 633a (1988) does not authorize us to award attorney’s fees to claimants in the public sector.1 I dissent from the court’s conclusion, however, that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) authorizes us to award front pay to public as well as private employees.2
This circuit has never addressed the issue of the availability of front pay in the public sector. It has determined that front pay is an available remedy for private employees under 29 U.S.C. § 626 (1988). See O’Donnell v. Georgia Osteopathic Hosp., Inc., 748 F.2d 1543, 1551 (11th Cir.1984).3 *1283The case before us deals, however, with a civil action brought by a federal employee against a federal employer, Federal Prisons Industries, Inc. (FPI), under 29 U.S.C. § 633a. Moreover, Congress and the Supreme Court view section 633a as “self-contained and unaffected by other sections, including those governing ... actions against private employers.” See Lehman v. Nakshian, 453 U.S. 156, 168, 101 S.Ct. 2698, 2705, 69 L.Ed.2d 548 (1981); H.R.Rep. No. 527, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 11 (1977) (“Section [633a] ... is complete in itself”). Hence, our prior determinations of front pay in the private employer context do not mandate the award of front pay in this case.
Nevertheless, the arguments I present in part I below against the permissibility of front pay under the ADEA are not based solely on the federal status of the employer in this case. I am convinced that O’Donnell and the line of cases following its reasoning are decided wrongly. Accordingly, I would hold, regardless of the status of the employer, that front pay is not a permissible remedy under the ADEA.4
I.
A.
When the ADEA was enacted in 1967, it specifically excluded federal employees from the remedial provisions in section 626. See 29 U.S.C. § 630(b). In amending the ADEA in 1974 and 1978 to include federal employees, Congress chose to create a separate and discrete federal remedial scheme rather than subsume these employees under the pre-existing enforcement procedures in the private sector. See 29 U.S.C. § 633a(f).5 The legislative history states that section 633a(f) was added to “make[] it clear that section [633a] ... is independent of any other section of [the ADEA].” H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 950, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 11 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 504, 528, 532; see Nakshian, 453 U.S. at 168, 101 S.Ct. at 2705. Thus, Congress has intended that we do not borrow from the remedies found in section 626 in our determination of permissible remedies under section 633a.6
Section 633a presents the federal claimant with the option of two enforcement procedures: (1) an administrative proceeding conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which “is authorized to enforce the provisions ... of this section through appropriate remedies, including reinstatement or hiring of employees with or without backpay, as will effectuate the policies of this section,” 29 U.S.C. § 633a(b); and, (2) a civil action brought in federal court “for such legal or equitable relief as will effectuate the purposes of this chapter,” 29 U.S.C. § 633a(c).7 No where in the text of these provisions and no where in the legislative history is there any mention of front pay. The courts, therefore, are left to their own creative devises when designing the front pay remedy-
The Eleventh Circuit has come to view front pay as “equitable relief” under section 626 of the ADEA. See Ramsey v. *1284Chrysler First, Inc., 861 F.2d 1541, 1545 (11th Cir.1988).8 The argument for holding that front pay is equitable relief, aided considerably by the broader remedial language of section 626(b), see O’Donnell, 748 F.2d at 1551,9 is that front pay is a substitute for reinstatement, when reinstatement is impracticable or inadequate. See Stan-field, 867 F.2d at 1295; Goldstein, 758 F.2d at 1449.10 Since reinstatement is equitable relief, so the argument goes, it follows that its substitute, front pay, is also equitable relief. See Goldstein, 758 F.2d at 1449.
This assumed equivalence between front pay and equitable relief fails for three reasons. First, front pay is legal relief. In Lorillard v. Pons, 434 U.S. 575, 583 n. 11, 98 S.Ct. 866, 871 n. 11, 55 L.Ed.2d 40 (1978), the Supreme Court distinguished the legal and equitable remedies available under section 626(b) on the basis of whether the remedy involved money damages:
Section 7(b), 29 U.S.C. § 626(b), does not specify which of the listed categories of relief are legal and which are equitable. However, since it is clear that judgments compelling “employment, reinstatement or promotion” are equitable, see 5 J. Moore, Federal Practice 1138.21 (1977), Congress must have meant the phrase “legal relief” to refer to judgments “enforcing ... liability for amounts deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation.”
Front pay, which is the recovery of monetary damages for lost future wages, should be classified, therefore, as “legal relief” under the Court’s analysis;11 but it is not the kind of limited legal relief Congress intended under the ADEA, i.e., back pay and liquidated damages. See H.R.Conf. *1285Rep. No. 950, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 13-14 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 528, 535.12
Nevertheless, a few courts have argued, regardless of which remedial label is applied, that when money damages are "resti-tutio nal,” rather than compensatory, they constitute equitable relief. See Duke v. Uniroyal Inc., 928 F.2d 1413, 1424 (4th Cir.1991).13 Even if we accept this argument, however, the money damages awarded in this case are not restitutional. The award of front pay in this case does not restore Lewis to the status quo ante, the status obtaining before his constructive firing occurred; rather, the front pay award compensates Lewis for a continuing injury — continuing age discrimination — until retirement, even though there is no continuing cause of the injury. This is a windfall, not restitution.
Second, the argument that front pay is an equitable remedy under the ADEA turns the remedial relationship between legal relief and equitable relief on its head. Courts have the discretion to award equitable relief when legal remedies are inadequate, not the converse. Moreover, although the equitable powers of federal courts should be broadly construed to afford complete relief under a statute, Mitchell v. DeMario Jewelry, Inc., 361 U.S. 288, 291-92, 80 S.Ct. 332, 335, 4 L.Ed.2d 323 (1960), such equitable powers cannot be used to expand or override the intent of Congress to provide limited legal remedies; such as Congress limiting legal remedies to “unpaid minimum wages and unpaid overtime compensation” and liquidated damages under the ADEA. See supra note 12. We should not sanction the district court’s use.of its equitable powers to frustrate the intent of Congress.
■ Third, and most importantly, front pay is not appropriate “equitable” relief because it does not effectuate the purposes of the ADEA — and all remedies of the ADEA, legal or equitable, must effectuate the purposes of the Act.14 Awarding front pay does not promote the continued employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age, does not prohibit employer discrimination, and does not help employers and workers to solve age discrimination problems in the workplace. 29 U.S.C. § 621(b). To the contrary, the availability of front pay creates an incentive for the discharged employee to remain unemployed, to take early retirement, so to speak, and creates an incentive for the federal employer to settle the case without addressing the possible age discrimination in the workplace. To show that this is the case, the following subparts examine the incentives of the remedial scheme under the ADEA as drafted by Congress and, *1286then, examine the skewed remedial scheme presented by the addition of the front pay remedy that the court'adopts today.
B.
1.
Front pay becomes an issue in only one specie of age discrimination case: where the employee claims that his employer discharged him, actually or constructively, on account of his age. Front pay is not likely to be an issue in a failure-to-hire case, because lost future wages would be difficult to prove; they would be speculative, at best. Front pay is not likely to be an issue in failure-to-promote case, because the employee would rather have the promotion than the lost future wage increment (reduced to present day value); and where the promotion cannot be awarded because the position sought has been filled, the court can, as an equity remedy, simply order the employer to pay the employee the wages of that position.
Returning to the actual or constructive discharge cases, I think it clear that if front pay is not available, the employee, if he pursues his claim, will always be seeking reinstatement with back pay. If the employer’s discriminatory acts disabled the employee, as the appellant claims here, the employee will be seeking, as additional equitable relief, sick leave, with appropriate treatment, and such changes in working conditions as may be necessary to restore the status quo ante.
I further suggest that, without front pay, the employee will have little incentive to prosecute a frivolous claim. The only damages that he could recover would be back pay; their amount would depend on the time that elapsed between the employee's discharge and the trial or settlement of his case. In short, the potential damages (including an award of attorneys’ fees in the case of a private but not a federal employer, see supra note 1) might be such as to give the case little settlement value and effectively eliminate the possibility of hiring a lawyer on a contingent fee basis. An employee would bring a frivolous suit, then, only if he was able, and willing, to finance it out of his own pocket.
Turning to the federal employer (which I define, for sake of discussion, as the person in charge of the workplace and of the employee), I suggest that, in a meritorious case, if front pay is not recoverable, the employer would have at the very outset a substantial incentive to reconcile the problems with the employee. For, if the matter is not resolved, litigation ensues, and the employee prevails, the federal employer may be blamed by his superiors for the discriminatory conduct and, if not disciplined, might find that his chances for advancement — in pay or in position — have diminished.
In sum, the prohibition against front pay encourages the parties to reconcile their differences and to restore the status quo ante. This, then, enhances the goals of the ADEA.
2.
If the employee can recover front pay under the ADEA, the employee, and the employer as well, may have an incentive to dissolve the employment relationship. The employee, after weighing the potential for front pay and future employment opportunities (which he would not willingly disclose to the employer or the court, because the disclosure* would mitigate his front pay damages) against reinstatement and back pay, may opt for front pay — although, in truth, the situation with the employer could be reconciled and the status quo ante could be restored. The employee’s incentive to opt for front pay-will, of course, depend on several factors: principally, the length of service remaining until retirement (the greater the length, the greater the front pay available); the amount of back pay available (which will depend on when the case is likely to get to trial or settle); and the advice his attorney gives him.
As noted, see supra note l, the fee shifting provisions of the law do not apply in ADEA cases brought against federal em*1287ployers;15 accordingly, if the employee lacks the funds to finance a suit and to pay his attorney an hourly fee, his attorney will be working on a contingent fee basis. Given this fee arrangement, counsel may encourage the employee to opt for front pay damages, instead of reinstatement and back pay: the greater the front pay potential, the greater the encouragement. If the employee opts for front pay, he will, of course, have to overcome two obstacles. The first obstacle, erected by the employer, will be that the status quo ante can be reestablished — the employee can return to work. The employee will have to demonstrate to the court’s satisfaction that conditions at the workplace have deteriorated to such a extent that he cannot return, or, as in this case, that the discriminatory acts have permanently disabled him.16 The second obstacle, erected by the law (the duty to mitigate damages), will be that he will never be gainfully employed again.17 It thus becomes apparent that in preparing the employee’s case for trial, his attorney must create an atmosphere that makes reconciliation an impossibility and depicts his client as unemployable. This atmosphere, if it is to be an effective litigation strategy, must worsen progressively as the trial approaches, so that, if the case is not settled, the trial will eliminate the possibility of reconciliation and thus reinstatement as a realistic remedy.
I now turn to the federal employer’s incentives — if front pay is allowed. This employer’s primary incentive is obviously to maintain his job and its attendant opportunities intact. He may also be interested in getting rid of the employee. A quick cash settlement will likely accomplish both of these ends. In fact, the sooner the settlement the better; as the case drags on and bitterness begins to reign, the federal employer’s chances of emerging unscathed diminish. The last thing he may want is a trial.
In my view, front pay — because it can provide an open-ended fund for settlement whereas back pay cannot — will inexorably lead to more frivolous suits. Without front pay and the open-ended settlement fund it can produce, the employer has little incentive to settle for cash; and, given that the employee’s chances of retaining counsel on a contingent fee basis are nil, the employee has no leverage to produce a settlement. All the employee can do is to finance a losing cause. In sum, the inclusion of front pay in the ADEA’s remedial scheme creates a setting for friction and conflict in the workplace and skews the incentives of the parties toward the dissolution of their working relationship — outcomes that are in direct conflict with Congress’ stated intent to improve and to promote the employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age.18
II.
We are faced with a case in which the remedies prescribed by Congress might not be adequate.19 Nevertheless, by reversing *1288the district court’s denial of front pay, this court runs the risk of ignoring Congress’ intention to limit the remedial provisions of the ADEA and the separation of powers ■doctrine that bars us from designing a new remedial scheme. Since this is not our proper adjudicative function, I dissent on the issue of front pay.
For the reasons stated above, I concur in part, and I dissent in part.

. See ante at p. 1282; see also Palmer v. General Servs. Admin., 787 F.2d 300, 302 (8th Cir.1986) (holding that attorney’s fees are not available in administrative proceedings under § 633a); Kennedy v. Whitehurst, 690 F.2d 951, 966 (D.C.Cir.1982) (same). But see DeFries v. Haarhues, 488 F.Supp. 1037, 1045 (C.D.Ill.1980) (holding that attorney’s fees are available in civil actions under § 633a(c)). See generally 29 U.S.C. § 626(b) (1988) (incorporating § 216(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), allowing the award of reasonable attorney’s fees in private civil actions against private employers).

. The award of "front pay” covers monetary damages for future economic loss (future wages) until the age of retirement; the amount of damages recovered may be mitigated by claimant's new employment or claimant’s unreasonable refusal of reinstatement. See Wibon v. S & L Acqubition Co., 940 F.2d 1429, 1433 n. 6, 1434 (11th Cir.1991); see abo infra note 10.

.See also Wilson v. S & L Acquisition Co., 940 F.2d at 1438 (stating that the general rule in private employer cases is “that prospective damages are awarded in lieu of reinstatement when it is not feasible to reinstate the employee”); Stanfield v. Answering Serv., Inc., 867 F.2d 1290, 1295 (11th Cir.1989) (noting that "frontpay is an appropriate remedy for [a private employer] ADEA violation where reinstatement is impracticable or inadequate”); Ramsey v. Chrysler First, Inc., 861 F.2d 1541, 1545 (11th Cir.1988) (stating that the "award of front pay [under § 626] is a form of equitable relief; as such, 'the decision whether to grant [it] ... lies in the discretion of the district court' ”) (quoting Castle v. Sangamo Weston, Inc., 837 F.2d 1550, 1563 (11th Cir.1988); Goldstein v. Manhattan Indus., Inc., 758 F.2d 1435, 1449 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1005, 106 S.Ct. 1005, 88 L.Ed.2d 457 (1985) (stating that front pay "may be particularly appropriate [in private employer ADEA *1283cases] in lieu of reinstatement where discord and antagonism between the parties would render reinstatement ineffective as a make-whole remedy").

. I realize that our “prior circuit rule,” see supra note 3, would require us to follow O’Donnells holding were this a private employee case. The rule does not, however, bind us to follow O’Donnell here since this is a public employee case.

. Section 633a(f) provides in pertinent part:
Any personnel action of any department, agency, or other entity referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall not be subject to, or affected by, any provision of this chapter, other than ... the provisions of this section.
29 U.S.C. § 633a(f).

. Of course, I contend that even if we look at the remedial provisions in § 626, we cannot find the remedy of front pay. See infra notes 12 and 14 and accompanying text.

. Section 621(b) states the purposes of the ADEA as follows:
It is therefore the purpose of this chapter to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment.
29 U.S.C. § 621(b).

. A majority of the circuits that have considered the issue agree with the Eleventh Circuit in holding that front pay is equitable relief under section 626. See, e.g., Wildman v. Lerner Stores Corp., 771 F.2d 605, 616 (1st Cir.1985); Dominic v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc., 822 F.2d 1249, 1257 (2d Cir.1987); Duke v. Uniroyal Inc., 928 F.2d 1413, 1423 (4th Cir.1991); Gibson v. Mohawk Rubber Co., 695 F.2d 1093, 1100 (8th Cir.1982).
A few circuits have held, on the other hand, that front pay is more appropriately classified as “legal relief' under section 626. See Maxfield v. Sinclair Int'l, 766 F.2d 788, 796 (3d Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1057, 106 S.Ct. 796, 88 L.Ed.2d 773 (1986); Fite v. First Tennessee Prod. Credit Ass'n, 861 F.2d 884, 893 (6th Cir.1988); Cassino v. Reichhold Chemicals, Inc., 817 F.2d 1338, 1347 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1047, 108 S.Ct. 785, 98 L.Ed.2d 870 (1988). Although these circuits are correct in their assessment that front pay is a legal remedy, it is not the kind of limited legal relief permissible under the ADEA. See infra notes 12 and 14.

. Section 626(b) provides in pertinent part:
In any action brought to enforce this chapter the court shall have jurisdiction to grant such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, including without limitation judgments compelling employment, reinstatement or promotion, or enforcing the liability for amounts deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation under this section.
29 U.S.C. § 626(b) (emphasis added).
Section 633a(b) provides in pertinent part:
[T]he Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is authorized to enforce the provisions of subsection (a) of this section through appropriate remedies, including reinstatement or hiring of employees with or without back-pay, as will effectuate the policies of this section.
29 U.S.C. § 633a(b).
In Gregory v. Garrett, 1990 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 1460 (W.D.Mo. Feb. 6, 1990), however, the court noted that “front pay is an equitable remedy, which is granted in lieu of reinstatement, and both the above-noted sections [626(b) and 633a(b) ] authorize reinstatement." Id.

. Reinstatement has been judged to be impracticable or inadequate where there is discord and antagonism between the parties, Goldstein, 758 F.2d at 1435, when it is "reasonable” for the claimant to refuse an offer of reinstatement, O’Donnell, 748 F.2d at 1550-51; Stanfield, 867 F.2d at 1295-96, and when the claimant is "nearing” the normal retirement age, Eivens v. Adventist Health System, 660 F.Supp. 1255, 1264 (D.Kan.1987). This panel finds that the facts of the case at bar present a reasonable refusal of reinstatement by Lewis because there were only four years until his mandatory retirement and the expert testimony established that “the discrimination endured by Lewis in effect disabled him.” See ante p. 1281 (emphasis in the original).

. Accord Smith v. Consolidated Mutual Water Co., 787 F.2d 1441, 1445-46 (10th Cir.1986) (Barrett, J., dissenting in part) (noting that the analysis in Lorillard leads inexorably to the conclusion that “[i]t is well established that the award of future damages is a legal remedy.”).

. In the private employee context, legal relief is defined as back pay and liquidated damages. H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 950, 95th Cong., 2d Sess. 13-14 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 528, 535 provides in pertinent part:
"amounts owing” [under section 626(b) ] contemplates two elements: First, it includes items of pecuniary or economic loss such as wages, fringe, and other job-related benefits. Second, it includes liquidated damages (calculated as an amount equal to the pecuniary loss) which compensates the aggrieved party for nonpecuniary losses arising out of a willful violation of the ADEA.
See also Lorillard v. Pons, 434 U.S. at 584, 98 S.Ct. at 872 (stating that "the ADEA incorporates the FLSA provision that employers ‘shall be liable’ for amounts deemed unpaid minimum wages or overtime compensation, while under Title VII, the availability of backpay is a matter of equitable discretion") (emphasis added). Further, legal relief in private employee cases entails the right to a jury trial. Lorillard, 434 U.S. at 585, 98 S.Ct. at 872.
Legal relief in the federal sector, however, does not include liquidated damages, see Chambers v. Weinberger, 591 F.Supp. 1554 (N.D.Ga.1984), or the right to a jury trial. See Nakshian, 453 U.S. at 168-69, 101 S.Ct. at 2705-06. The only limited legal relief that remains in federal employee cases is back pay — "amounts deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation.”

. See also Chaufeurs, Teamsters & Helpers, Local No. 391 v. Terry, 494 U.S. 558, 570-71, 110 S.Ct. 1339, 1348, 108 L.Ed.2d 519 (1990) (stating that a monetary award may be a form of equitable relief if it is "restitutionary, such as in 'action[sj for disgorgement of improper profits,’ ... [or] ‘incidental to or intertwined with injunctive relief”) (citations omitted).

. The following analysis of Congressional policy in the ADEA also undermines the decisions of those courts that have classified front pay as "legal relief’ under the ADEA. See supra note 8.

. Because the federal claimant cannot shift the payment of his attorney’s fees to the federal employer under section 633a, while the private employee can shift his litigation costs to the private employer under section 626(b), see supra. note 1, it might be argued that the federal remedies prescribed by Congress under the ADEA are not adequate. The proper governmental body to gauge the adequacy of the federal employee’s remedies (as well as to balance the relevant interests involved) under the ADEA, however, is Congress and not this court.

. See supra note 10 and accompanying text.

. See supra note 2.

. Reinstatement of the employee, on the other hand, does effectuate the purposes of the ADEA by putting the employee back to work; and the provision of back pay "incidental to” reinstatement, arguably restores the employee to the status quo ante while at the same time deterring future discriminatory acts in the workplace on the part of the employer.

.I say that the remedies might not be adequate because we can only surmise how the claimant, Lewis, would have approached this case had the law of this circuit forbade front pay. Had front pay not been available — meaning that Lewis’ remedy would have been an order requiring his reinstatement (under conditions designed to protect his emotional well being) with back pay, see supra p. 1279 — Lewis might have gone back to work. At the very least, his lawyer, and his psychiatrist, would have been faced with an entirely different setting — in which to advise him — than the setting our precedent seems to *1288foster, see id. p. 1279. See also supra note 15 and accompanying text.