A mid-40s avreich from Bnei Braq was injured in a traffic accident. According to the article in Haredim10 he was not significantly injured and the injuries did not significantly affect his ability to function as normal, but his injuries did cause him to qualify as 10% disability.
The avreich decided to sue for damages and his lawyer claimed that his earnings potential that was affected should not be considered based his earnings now as an avreich, which is really far below his potential, but as the possibility that he could have decided at some point in the future to become a dayan and earn a very respectable salary.
It seems such claims are normally more accepted when being used for a younger client, but clients already in their 40s are not considered to be realistic as at that age people dont suddenly change their careers and get such lucrative positions. The judge however accepted the claim and decided that the potential earnings damaged by the injury should be considered by taking into account the average wages in the general workforce and not based on earnings of someone not expected to work even though right now, and his entire life, he hasnt worked and hasnt earned an average salary.
The decision led the avreich to be granted compensation far above what was originally expected.
Firstly, good for him.
Secondly, it seems it is a realistic claim for anyone to make that even though now I am an electrician, a teacher, a social worker, a whatever making an average salary to be considered as having the potential to one day be President of the country or partner in a major law firm or hi-tech entrepreneur with higher earnings potential.
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One of heterim to pay rebbeim, rabbis, etc., is schar batala, so there is a halachik precedence for this.
ReplyDeletedefintiely but do you calculate schar batala like the neurosurgeon he could have become or like the lawyer he could have become, like the computer engineer he could have become or like the minimum wage employee he could have become? or something in between?
Deleteמושגים תלמודיים שכר בטלה
Deleteדיין שיש לו מלאכה מסויימת לעשותה בשעה שבעלי הדין באים להתדיין לפניו - מותר לו לבקש מבעלי הדין שיתנו לו אדם אחר שיעשה את מלאכתו במקומו, או שיתנו לו שכר פעולה של אותה מלאכה שבטל ממנה.