EEOC Settlement Calculator
Federal law caps some of the damages in an employment discrimination case, and the cap depends on the number of people the employer employs. This page quotes the statute and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the cap, on what it covers and what it does not, and on the deadline to file a charge. The calculator below applies the cap to the amounts you enter.
The EEOC states the aim of the remedies this way: “Whenever discrimination is found, the goal of the law is to put the victim of discrimination in the same position (or nearly the same) that he or she would have been if the discrimination had never occurred.” (EEOC, Remedies For Employment Discrimination (read Oct. 6, 2026))
Apply the federal cap to your discrimination damages
Enter the employer's size and the amounts you are claiming. The calculator applies the cap federal law sets for that size to the damages it covers, adds back pay, which it does not cover, and counts the deadline to file a charge.
Count them the way the statute does, over calendar weeks in this or last calendar year, as the tiers quoted below say.
Pay and benefits lost because of the discrimination. The cap does not cover it.
Future financial losses and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life. The cap covers these.
Damages to punish malice or reckless indifference. The cap covers these too, and the statute allows none against a government.
Damages after the cap
Enter the number of employees to see the cap.
This applies the federal cap to the amounts you enter and counts the charge deadline. It does not decide whether discrimination happened, what your losses are, whether the employer is covered or whether a state law gives more; and it does not count front pay, interest, attorney's fees or the age and equal pay rules.
The date of the act you would file about. Each act has its own deadline.
The EEOC extends the deadline where one does, as its page quoted below says. Until you answer Yes, the tool counts the shorter period.
Enter the date to count the deadline to file a charge.
The cap on damages in an employment discrimination settlement
The statute's cap reads: “The sum of the amount of compensatory damages awarded under this section for future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses, and the amount of punitive damages awarded under this section, shall not exceed, for each complaining party” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3))
By the size of the employer, it is “in the case of a respondent who has more than 14 and fewer than 101 employees in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, $50,000;” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3)(A)) “in the case of a respondent who has more than 100 and fewer than 201 employees in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, $100,000;” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3)(B)) “in the case of a respondent who has more than 200 and fewer than 501 employees in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, $200,000;” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3)(C)) and “in the case of a respondent who has more than 500 employees in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, $300,000.” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3)(D))
The EEOC puts the same tiers in plain words: “These limits vary depending on the size of the employer: For employers with 15-100 employees, the limit is $50,000. For employers with 101-200 employees, the limit is $100,000. For employers with 201-500 employees, the limit is $200,000. For employers with more than 500 employees, the limit is $300,000.” (EEOC, Remedies For Employment Discrimination (read Oct. 6, 2026))
The cap applies where the employer “against a respondent who engaged in unlawful intentional discrimination (not an employment practice that is unlawful because of its disparate impact) prohibited under section 703, 704, or 717 of the Act” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(a)(1))
What the cap does not cover
Back pay is outside it: “Compensatory damages awarded under this section shall not include backpay, interest on backpay, or any other type of relief authorized under section 706(g) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(2)). So back pay, and the other relief that section of the Civil Rights Act authorizes, is added to the capped damages, not held to the cap.
Compensatory damages, in the EEOC's words: “Compensatory damages pay victims for out-of-pocket expenses caused by the discrimination (such as costs associated with a job search or medical expenses) and compensate them for any emotional harm suffered (such as mental anguish, inconvenience, or loss of enjoyment of life).” (EEOC, Remedies For Employment Discrimination (read Oct. 6, 2026))
And punitive damages: “A complaining party may recover punitive damages under this section against a respondent (other than a government, government agency or political subdivision) if the complaining party demonstrates that the respondent engaged in a discriminatory practice or discriminatory practices with malice or with reckless indifference to the federally protected rights of an aggrieved individual.” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(1))
Fees and costs: “A victim of discrimination also may be able to recover attorney's fees, expert witness fees, and court costs.” (EEOC, Remedies For Employment Discrimination (read Oct. 6, 2026)) The calculator does not add them.
An EEOC settlement calculator example
Say the employer has 150 employees, and the claim is $60,000 in back pay, $125,000 for future losses and emotional harm, and $50,000 in punitive damages. The cap for that size is $100,000. The capped kinds come to $175,000, so the cap holds them to $100,000. Back pay is added in full, for $160,000.
That is the statute's limit on what a court can award on those amounts, not a prediction of a settlement. A settlement is an agreement between the parties.
Which employers the cap applies to
Title VII defines the employer it covers: one that “means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year,” (42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b)) The calculator gives no figure for an employer with fewer employees; a state law may cover it, and this page did not read state law.
A jury is not told the cap: “any party may demand a trial by jury;” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(c)) and “the court shall not inform the jury of the limitations described in subsection (b)(3).” (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(c)(2))
Age and equal pay claims
These run on different rules. The EEOC says: “In cases involving intentional age discrimination, or in cases involving intentional sex-based wage discrimination under the Equal Pay Act, victims cannot recover either compensatory or punitive damages, but may be entitled to” (EEOC, Remedies For Employment Discrimination (read Oct. 6, 2026)) liquidated damages. “The amount of liquidated damages that may be awarded is equal to the amount of back pay awarded the victim.” (EEOC, Remedies For Employment Discrimination (read Oct. 6, 2026))
The calculator applies the Title VII cap and does not compute liquidated damages.
The deadline to file a discrimination charge
A charge comes first, and its clock is short. The statute says: “A charge under this section shall be filed within one hundred and eighty days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred” (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1)). Where the person first went to a state or local agency, “such charge shall be filed by or on behalf of the person aggrieved within three hundred days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred, or within thirty days after receiving notice that the State or local agency has terminated the proceedings under the State or local law, whichever is earlier,” (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1)) the subsection goes on.
The EEOC's page: “The 180 calendar day filing deadline is extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis.” (EEOC, Time Limits For Filing A Charge (read Oct. 6, 2026)) “Holidays and weekends are included in the calculation, although if the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, you will have until the next business day.” (EEOC, Time Limits For Filing A Charge (read Oct. 6, 2026))
After the charge, the EEOC can give notice of the right to sue, and “within ninety days after the giving of such notice a civil action may be brought against the respondent named in the charge” (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1))
For federal employees: “Federal employees and job applicants have a different complaint process” (EEOC, Time Limits For Filing A Charge (read Oct. 6, 2026)), which this page does not cover.
What this calculator does not do
It does not decide whether discrimination happened, what your losses are, the number of employees the employer has, or whether a state law gives more or covers a smaller employer. It does not compute front pay, interest, attorney's fees or liquidated damages, and it does not predict a settlement.
It applies the statute as the 2024 edition of the United States Code prints it, and the EEOC's pages as they read on October 6, 2026.