Certified Legal Professional (CLP) Practice Exam

In a discrimination lawsuit, why did the attorney's expert grossly overstate the employee's damages?

1. The expert failed to account for the employee's new job

2. The expert was unaware of the company's policies

3. The expert disregarded the deposition testimony

4. The expert miscalculated the damages

The correct answer is: The expert failed to account for the employee's new job

The answer indicating that the expert failed to account for the employee's new job highlights a crucial aspect of calculating damages in a discrimination lawsuit. In such cases, damages typically include lost wages and benefits that the employee would have earned had the discriminatory actions not taken place. If the expert does not consider that the employee has secured new employment, this could lead to an inflated assessment of the damages. The new job may mitigate the employee's losses by providing income and possibly even comparable benefits, which should be factored into the overall damages calculation. By neglecting this significant information, the expert significantly overstates the employee's financial losses, leading to a misrepresentation of the actual damages suffered due to discrimination. Considering the other options, being unaware of the company's policies may affect the overall context of the case but does not directly impact the calculation of damages as significantly as overlooking new employment would. Ignoring deposition testimony could similarly distort the picture of the case, but it is less likely to lead to a direct overstatement of financial losses. Miscalculating damages could be a concern, but if the error stems from not acknowledging new income, the overstatement becomes a product of that oversight rather than an arithmetic mistake. Therefore, not accounting for the new job stands out as the