How a Vocational Expert Contributes to Employment Litigation

When an employee leaves an employer or must leave a job due to sexual harassment; age, sexual or racial discrimination; bias; wrongful termination or other workplace issues, both plaintiff and defendant need to determine the past and future economic consequences of this event.

The employability expert can evaluate and document factors including loss or damages incurred in earnings and benefits and the impact on future employability and earnings. Ms. Wexler researches the current and past labor markets and examines the plaintiff's job search efforts in obtaining comparable employment in this job market. She provides evaluation services to both defendant and plaintiff.

Ms. Wexler's real-world experience as an executive recruiter and hiring manager provide critical insight and first-hand resources that are essential to determine a party's employability and competitive position in the job market. She has advised employers and candidates on successful hiring and job search practices that the court finds highly credible when determining a party's efforts to mitigate damages.

Her assessment draws upon her training and methodology as a vocational evaluator, a career consultant and executive recruiter. This includes a careful review of all pertinent documents (often advising attorneys about obtaining additional information to support litigation), detailed interviews (where there is opportunity to do so) and in-depth labor market research from date of separation through the present day – one of the more important factors to assess real world impact on employability and imputed earnings capacity.

Examples of Vocational Evaluation in Employment Litigation:

• Retained by defendant to evaluate plaintiff's efforts, in order to mitigate damages. Researched labor market and job opportunity at time of separation from employer and job search conducted for positions in financial services.
• Retained by plaintiff to investigate employability and earnings in alternative occupations for unemployed dentist disabled in an auto accident in litigation against insurance company.
• Evaluated employability, imputed income and job search activity of injured small craft boat captain on behalf of defendant in mitigation of damages
• Evaluated employability and imputed income (including in-depth labor market research) for injured EMS professional on behalf of defendant (a large municipality).

Ms. Wexler has evaluated and/or offered alternative occupations with labor market research and imputed income for individuals in some of the following occupations:

• unemployed ironworker
• Individual executing orders on trading floor whose job is being
  phased out by electronic trading
• free-lance veterinarian
• gynecologist nearing retirement
• non-practicing podiatrist
• non-practicing nurse whose license may or may not have expired
• dentist
• retail sales person

• fashion and advertising sales executives
• publishing executive
• marketing executive
• caterer
• freelance broadcast reporter
• dietician
• social worker
• vocalist