Damages in a New York Discrimination, Harassment or Retaliation Case: What Each Law Allows

What a New York discrimination, harassment or retaliation case can recover depends on which law the claim is brought under, because federal, New York State and New York City law each have their own list of remedies and their own limits. Federal Title VII and ADA claims carry a combined cap on compensatory and punitive damages, while the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) states no dollar limit on compensatory damages and the court-action section of the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) sets no dollar cap.⁠^[1][5][8]

This page describes what each law allows and where each law stops. It does not estimate what any claim is worth. A statutory maximum is a ceiling, not a usual result. Under the State law, a court reviewing a Division of Human Rights mental-anguish award asks whether it was supported by the evidence and how it compared with other awards for similar injuries.⁠^[11]

What are the main kinds of relief?

• Back pay. Pay lost because of the unlawful act. Under federal Title VII a court may order reinstatement or hiring "with or without back pay."⁠^[12]
• Front pay. In the Supreme Court's words, under federal law front pay is money awarded for lost compensation during the period between judgment and reinstatement, or in place of reinstatement.⁠^[13]
• Compensatory damages. Under the federal damages statute these include future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and other nonpecuniary losses.⁠^[3]
• Punitive damages. Under the New York City Human Rights Law, the Court of Appeals describes punitive damages as punishment for wrongful conduct that goes beyond mere negligence, different in kind from compensatory damages.⁠^[14]
• Civil fines and penalties. Amounts an agency can assess that go to the government. Under the State law they are paid to the State, and under the City law into the City's general fund.⁠^[9][10]
• Attorney's fees. Under federal Title VII, the NYSHRL and the NYCHRL, a court may award a reasonable fee in its discretion.⁠^[15][16][17]

Remedies under the four discrimination laws, side by side

The table sets each law's rule next to the others. Title VII and the ADA are in one column because the ADA's employment title uses Title VII's remedies and procedures.⁠^[18] The third column is 42 U.S.C. § 1981, a federal law on race discrimination in making and enforcing contracts, including employment.⁠^[19][20]

Remedy	Federal: Title VII and ADA	Federal: § 1981 (race)	New York State Human Rights Law	New York City Human Rights Law
Back pay and reinstatement	A court may order reinstatement or hiring, with or without back pay. Back pay cannot accrue from more than two years before the EEOC charge and is reduced by interim earnings or amounts earnable with reasonable diligence.⁠[12]	The Supreme Court has said a back pay award under § 1981 is not restricted to Title VII's two years.⁠[21]	The Division of Human Rights may order hiring, reinstatement or upgrading, with or without back pay.⁠[22] In court, the claim is for damages and such other remedies as may be appropriate.⁠[23]	The NYC Commission on Human Rights may order hiring, reinstatement or upgrading and award back pay.⁠[24] In court, the claim is for damages, injunctive relief and other appropriate remedies.⁠[8]
Front pay	Available; it is not compensatory damages and is not subject to the federal cap.⁠[4]	The Supreme Court describes § 1981 relief as both equitable and legal relief.⁠[21]	The Division's listed remedies are "including (but not limited to)" hiring, reinstatement or upgrading with or without back pay.⁠[22]	The Commission may award front pay.⁠[24]
Compensatory damages (including emotional distress)	Available for intentional discrimination, not for a practice unlawful only because of its disparate impact.⁠[25] Counted toward the cap.⁠[3]	Compensatory damages are part of the legal relief available.⁠[21]	The Division may award compensatory damages; the statute states no dollar limit on them.⁠[5]	Available in court and from the Commission.⁠[8][24]
Punitive damages	Available on proof of malice or reckless indifference to federally protected rights; not against a government, government agency or political subdivision.⁠[26]	Available "under certain circumstances."⁠[21]	Available against private employers, in court and at the Division, for claims accruing on or after October 11, 2019; not against government employers.⁠[6][7]	Available in court where the conduct amounts to willful or wanton negligence, recklessness, or a conscious disregard of the rights of others.⁠[8][27] The list of remedies in a Commission order does not name punitive damages.⁠[28]
Dollar cap on compensatory and punitive damages	$50,000 to $300,000 combined, per person, by employer size.⁠[1]	The Title VII and ADA caps do not limit relief under § 1981.⁠[29]	No dollar limit stated on compensatory damages, and no cap on punitive damages in employment cases.⁠[5][6]	The court-action section sets no dollar cap and does not scale damages to employer size.⁠[8]
Civil fines paid to the government	The Title VII court remedies described on this page are equitable relief and capped damages that go to the person.⁠[12][25]	Relief is equitable and legal relief to the person.⁠[21]	Up to $50,000, or up to $100,000 for a willful, wanton or malicious act, paid to the State and separate from any damages.⁠[9][30]	Up to $125,000, or up to $250,000 for a willful, wanton or malicious act, paid into the City's general fund.⁠[31][10]
Attorney's fees	The court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party a reasonable fee, including expert fees.⁠[15]	Under 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b), the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party a reasonable fee as part of the costs.⁠[32]	Discretionary, to a prevailing or substantially prevailing party; at the Division only in a final order after a public hearing.⁠[16]	Discretionary in court, with expert fees and costs; "prevailing" includes a plaintiff whose case was a catalyst for a policy change.⁠[17]

The companion guides go further into back pay, front pay and reinstatement, emotional distress damages, punitive damages and attorney's fees.

What do New York's Labor Law retaliation statutes allow?

Retaliation for whistleblowing or for a wage complaint may fall under the New York State Labor Law instead of, or in addition to, the discrimination laws. Those State statutes have their own remedy lists.⁠^[33][34]

New York State statute	What a court may order	Limits and penalties
Labor Law § 740 (whistleblower)	An injunction; reinstatement to the same or an equivalent position, or front pay instead; restored fringe benefits and seniority; lost wages, benefits and other remuneration; and reasonable costs, disbursements and attorney's fees.⁠[33]	A civil penalty of up to $10,000, and punitive damages if the violation was willful, malicious or wanton.⁠[33] A court may award the employer its fees and costs if the employee's action was without basis in law or in fact.⁠[35]
Labor Law § 741 (health care employees)	Enforced through the § 740 lawsuit and its remedies.⁠[36]	Same as § 740.⁠[36]
Labor Law § 215 (complaints about Labor Law violations)	An injunction; liquidated damages; costs and reasonable attorneys' fees; reinstatement with restored seniority, or front pay; and lost compensation and damages.⁠[34]	Liquidated damages are not more than $20,000.⁠[34] Separately, the Commissioner of Labor may assess a civil penalty of $1,000 to $10,000, or up to $20,000 for an employer that violated the section in the preceding six years.⁠[37]

The guides to Labor Law § 740 and retaliation for wage complaints under § 215 explain who each statute covers and how long a person has to sue.

Which of these laws applies to my employer?

The remedy list only matters if the law reaches the employer. Federal Title VII and the ADA's employment title each cover an employer only if it has 15 or more employees.⁠^[38][39] The New York State Human Rights Law covers all employers within the state, with no minimum number of employees.⁠^[40] For most employment provisions, the New York City Human Rights Law does not apply to an employer that had fewer than four persons in its employ throughout the relevant period.⁠^[41] Section 1981 has no employee-count threshold in its text.⁠^[42]

One set of facts can support claims under more than one of these laws at once. The guide to the three layers of workplace law explains how they overlap, and which employers are covered gives the thresholds in full.

How does the choice of agency or court change the remedies?

Under the State law, punitive damages against a private employer are available both in court and before the Division of Human Rights.⁠^[6] A Division order may also include interest on any money awarded.⁠^[43] Under the City law, the court action is for damages including punitive damages, while the remedies listed for a Commission order after a hearing include back pay, front pay, compensatory damages and fees but do not name punitive damages; the Commission may separately impose a civil penalty that goes to the City.⁠^{[8][24][28][31][10]}

In federal court, either side may demand a jury when a Title VII or ADA plaintiff seeks compensatory or punitive damages, and the court does not tell the jury about the caps.⁠^[44] At the State Division of Human Rights, an Administrative Law Judge conducts the public hearing.⁠^[45]

The choice is not freely reversible. Filing a complaint with the State Division or the City Commission is an election that generally bars a court case on the same State or City Human Rights Law claim.⁠^[46][8] The comparison of the EEOC, the Division, the City Commission and court and the guide to election of remedies cover that decision.

Is there a duty to look for other work?

Under federal Title VII, the statute reduces back pay by interim earnings or amounts earnable with reasonable diligence.⁠^[12] The Supreme Court has explained that an unemployed or underemployed claimant need not go into another line of work, accept a demotion or take a demeaning position, but forfeits back pay by refusing a job substantially equivalent to the one denied; absent special circumstances, rejecting the employer's unconditional offer of the job ends the accrual of back pay.⁠^[47]

Those statements are federal Title VII authority.⁠^[12][47] This page does not describe a State or City mitigation rule. The guide to back pay, front pay and reinstatement covers the federal rule in more detail.

What people commonly get wrong

• "Damages are capped at $300,000." That figure is only the top federal tier, for employers with more than 500 employees; the federal cap is $50,000 for employers with 15 to 100 employees.⁠^[1] It does not cover back pay or front pay, and it does not limit relief under § 1981.⁠^[3][4][29] See the federal damages caps explained.
• "The State law has no punitive damages," or "State punitive damages are capped at $10,000." Under the New York State Human Rights Law, punitive damages have been available against private employers for claims accruing on or after October 11, 2019, and the ten-thousand-dollar figure in the statute applies to housing discrimination cases.⁠^[6]
• "A discrimination recovery is tax-free." Under federal tax law, the exclusion for damages covers those received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness, and emotional distress is not treated as a physical injury or sickness.⁠^[48] The IRS treats the lost-wage part of an employment settlement as taxable wages.⁠^[49] See whether employment settlements are taxable.

Limits that apply to public employers

Punitive damages are narrower against government employers. Federal Title VII punitive damages cannot be recovered from a government, government agency or political subdivision.⁠^[26] Under the New York State Human Rights Law, punitive damages are limited to private employers, a term that excludes the State and its local subdivisions, departments, agencies, boards and commissions.⁠^[7] In federal court, the Eleventh Amendment bars state employees from recovering money damages from the State under the ADA's employment title.⁠^[50] A State employee's Human Rights Law claim for damages may be brought in State Supreme Court.⁠^[51] Public employees also face separate notice rules, covered in notice of claim for public employees.

Why this page gives no numbers for a "typical" case

None of the statutes above sets an expected amount. For lost pay, the result turns on the person's own earnings and, under federal law, on interim earnings.⁠^[12] For mental anguish under the State law, the Court of Appeals requires some evidence of the magnitude of the injury, so that a compensatory award is neither punitive nor arbitrary.⁠^[52] The guide to the legal factors that affect a claim lists the factors with their sources.