Title VII and the Collateral Source Rule: Evaluating the Not-So Equitable Remedy in EEOC v. Consol Energy

On June 12, 2017, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia to refuse an offset to a Title VII damage award by the amount of pension payments received following the plaintiff’s constructive discharge. In doing so, the court adopted a new interpretation of the collateral source rule and its applicability in employment discrimination pay awards. The effect of this decision is to further compound a split of authority between multiple federal courts of appeals regarding the treatment of certain benefits in the wake of employment discrimination. This Comment argues that the Fourth Circuit’s decision is inconsistent with the statutory intent of Title VII to provide equitable remedies, and advocates for an approach to fashioning pay awards that examines the totality of circumstances facing employer and employee following employment discrimination litigation.