How do courts measure emotional damages in employment discrimination cases?

The measure of damages is based on the severity of conduct that the person has been subjected to. So if you think of it this way, the more severe the conduct, the higher the damages. In a case where there’s been very severe and pervasive harassment, or even a case where there’s been one serious act, you would fall into a special category that would warrant higher damages. Most cases fall under what’s called a Garden Variety Umbrella, which allows the recovery of some damages and there’s really no set number for that, or set formula. It just really depends on how the court feels about the conduct that the person was subjected to.