Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. v. Pfeifer

462 U.S. 523 (1983)

Facts

The District Court found that P was permanently disabled as a result of D’s negligence. The lower court determined its final award by taking 12.5 years of earnings at P’s wage at the time of the injury and subtracted from this his projected hypothetical earnings at minimum wage and the compensation of payments made under section 4 of the Act and added another $50,000 for pain and suffering. The court did not increase the award to take inflation into account, and it did not discount the award to reflect the present value of the future earnings stream of income. The lower court decided to follow a decision by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that held as a matter of law, future inflation will be presumed equal to future interest rates with these factors offsetting one another. D appealed.