Skip main navigation

Outdated or Unsupported Browser Detected
DWD's website uses the latest technology. This makes our site faster and easier to use across all devices. Unfortunatley, your browser is out of date and is not supported. An update is not required, but it is strongly recommended to improve your browsing experience. To update Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge visit their website.

834.1 Remedies for insurance benefit denial

Had the Complainant not been discharged, he would have continued to receive health insurance and pension contributions. The Complainant does not have the burden to establish the specific cost of his health care or the value of his pension benefits at the hearing. Those are matters the parties can resolve during the compliance phase of the litigation. Smith v. Wis. Bell (LIRC, 04/19/12).

A Respondent is liable for the Complainant’s out-of-pocket medical expenses if they would have been covered had the Complainant not been discharged in violation of the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act. However, the Respondent in this case was not liable for medical expenses for which the Complainant did not submit a bill since the Respondent had little opportunity to defend that claim. Bodoh v. US Paper Converters (LIRC, 11/14/95), aff’d sub nom. US Paper Converters v. LIRC (Outagamie Co. Cir. Ct., 06/14/96); aff’d, 208 Wis. 2d 523, 561 N.W.2d 756 (Ct. App. 1997).

Where, among other things, the Complainant’s testimony on the issue was contradictory, the Complainant failed to prove entitlement to an alleged insurance cost differential between what he paid when employed by the Respondent and what he paid at a subsequent job. Holbrook v. Coffee Sys. (LIRC, 04/10/92).

Amounts which a Respondent would have paid for insurance covering a Complainant are not to be figured in the back pay award. Actual out-of-pocket medical expenses incurred by a Complainant, or amounts expended by a Complainant to purchase substitute insurance coverage, may be included in such an award. Woolridge v. Chicago Northwestern Transp. Co. (LIRC, 08/22/86).

Where the employee was discriminatorily denied medical insurance, the employer must reimburse the employee for the amount of the least expensive insurance premium paid on a monthly basis by the employer and for any out-of-pocket medical expenses incurred by the employee that would have been covered by the employer's medical insurance program had the employee been allowed to participate. LeDoux v. Wis. Book Bindery (LIRC, 04/10/81).

A black employee who was discriminatorily denied group health insurance was entitled to reimbursement for his out-of-pocket medical expenses accrued during the period of the denial. Howard v. Cassel Box (DILHR, 09/28/76).