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Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2025
To prohibit a court from awarding damages based on race, ethnicity, gender, or actual or perceived sexual orientation, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill prohibits federal courts from using calculations of future earning potential in civil damages awards that take into account a plaintiff's race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics. The bill requires the Secretary of Labor to develop guidance for forensic economists to create future earnings tables that do not rely on these demographic factors, and to work with the Attorney General on guidance for states to do the same. The bill directs the Judicial Conference to study federal damages awards and report on patterns across case types and protected classes, while the Administrative Office of the United States Courts must examine how to account for age and disability in earnings calculations while complying with equal protection laws. The Federal Judicial Center is directed to provide training to federal judges on implementing the act. These studies, guidance documents, and training must be completed within specified timeframes.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6] (D-IL)
2 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Sean Casten’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY $15,800
- UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO $13,975
- CME GROUP $12,925
- DUPAGE MEDICAL GROUP $12,900
- MESIROW FINANCIAL $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Sean Casten → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jun 26, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jun 26, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 26, 2025
Mr. Casten (for himself and Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prohibit a court from awarding damages based on race, ethnicity, gender, or actual or perceived sexual orientation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Calculations in Civil Damages Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act—
(1) the term “future earnings table” includes any table or compilation of economic data used to determine, taking into account the median earnings in a geographic region—
(A) how many years an individual would have worked in the future; or
(B) the average wage an individual would have earned in the future; and
(2) the term “protected class” means a group of individuals sharing a common characteristic or identity who are legally protected against discrimination.
SEC. 3. CALCULATIONS OF DAMAGES.
(a) In General.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no court of the United States may award damages to a plaintiff in a civil action using a calculation for the projected future earning potential of that plaintiff that takes into account the actual or perceived race, ethnicity, or sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics including intersex traits).
(b) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny a court from ordering damages based on the fact that the plaintiff is a member of a protected class or for the purposes of Federal civil rights laws.
SEC. 4. INCLUSIVE FUTURE EARNINGS TABLES.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act—
(1) the Secretary of Labor shall develop guidance for forensic economists to develop inclusive future earnings tables that do not rely on race, ethnicity, gender, or actual or perceived sexual orientation; and
(2) the Secretary of Labor and the Attorney General shall develop guidance for States on how to make calculations of future earnings in State tort proceedings free of bias on the basis of actual or perceived race, ethnicity, and sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics including intersex traits).
SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT.
(a) Judicial Conference of the United States.—
(1) In general.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial Conference of the United States shall conduct a study on—
(A) damages awarded under Federal law for personal injury; and
(B) the aggregate data described in paragraph (1)—
(i) by case type, including employment discrimination and tort damages; or
(ii) by protected classes, including actual or perceived race, ethnicity, and sex (including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics including intersex traits).
(2) Report.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial Conference of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under paragraph (1).
(b) Administrative Office of the United States Courts.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall conduct a study and submit to Congress recommendations resulting from the study on how to ensure that calculations of future earning potential of plaintiffs that take into account age and disability without conflicting with Federal equal protection laws.
SEC. 6. TRAINING.
The Federal Judicial Center shall conduct training for Federal judges on how to implement this Act, including instructions on how to use tables on future earnings in evidence that comply with this Act. <all>
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