In Dominguez v. Malecon Shipping, Inc., No. 510129/2018, 2025 WL 2084852 (N.Y. Sup Ct, Kings County July 23, 2025), the court issued a decision following an inquest on plaintiff’s claims of failure to pay wages (minimum wage) and pregnancy discrimination. At this procedural stage of the case, since this matter was on for inquest, liability was conceded and the court’s decision was focused solely on damages.
After finding that plaintiff was entitled to damages on her wage claim, it turned to plaintiff’s discrimination claim:
Upon her discrimination claim, Plaintiff seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, and lost wages. While she is correct that recent Federal District Court cases have characterized “garden variety” claims as generally meriting 30-125 thousand dollars in compensatory damages, New York State Courts have not been as generous (SDHR v Elite Dental, 237 AD3d 835[2d Dept 2025][$30k; pregnancy]: SDHR v Adler, 229 AD3d 555 [2d Dept 2024J[$25k; sex]; Sortie Marble & Granite v Imperial, 222 AD3d 1407 [4th Dept 2023][$20k; race]; SDHR v Bosco, 216 AD3d 971 [2d Dept 2023] [$50k, 10k, 5k; sex]; Parker Watchman v Mauro, 215 AD3d 869 [2d Dept 2023][$20k; sex]; NYSDHR v Boro Park Senior Living Community, 213 AD3d 671 [2d Dept 2023][$15k; pregnancy]; Mutual Apartments v NYCCHR, 203 AD3d 1154 [2d Dept 2022][20k, 15k; disability]). Noting that a Court is required to determine that “[t]he awards of compensatory damages for mental anguish and humiliation are reasonably related to the wrongdoing, supported by substantial evidence, and similar to comparable awards for similar injuries” (Bosco, 216 AD3d at 973), $25,000 would be reasonable compensatory damages under the facts of this case and a comparable amount of punitive damages appropriate.
Plaintiff argues that she is entitled to lost wages from the date of termination until the date of judgment. While that is generally the case, the employee is required to attempt to mitigate her damages by using due diligence to find other suitable employment (see, for example, Sanderson v Leg Apparel, 2024 WL 898654 [SDNY 2024]). Here, Plaintiff claims to have attempted to do so but that her pregnancy and (thereafter) small child prevented her from securing a new job. As Defendants failed to appear and, thus, did not demonstrate a failure to mitigate, the requested lost wages in the amount of $270,560 are awarded.
The court further held that plaintiff was entitled to pre-judgment interest, noting that interest should be calculated from the date “halfway between when she was deprived of the funds and the date of the award.”