- 14 - (e.g., a ruined credit rating)." The Supreme Court distinguished such personal injuries from "legal injuries of an economic character" such as those arising out of the unlawful deprivation of the opportunity to earn wages through wrongful termination. Id. Consequently, damages received for lost wages in connection with the settlement of economic rights, such as those arising out of a breach of contract, are not excludable from income under section 104(a)(2). Id.; Robinson v. Commissioner, 102 T.C. 116, 126 (1994), affd. in part, revd. in part on another issue 70 F.3d 34 (5th Cir. 1995) and cases cited therein. Similarly, recovery for "business or property" is separate and distinct from recovery for personal injury. Genty v. Resolution Trust Corp., 937 F.2d 899, 918 (3d Cir. 1991); Berg v. First State Ins. Co., 915 F.2d 460, 464 (9th Cir. 1990); Rylewicz v. Beaton Servs., Ltd., 888 F.2d 1175, 1180 (7th Cir. 1989); see Reuter v. Sonotone Corp., 442 U.S. 330, 339 (1979) (holding that the phrase "business or property" in the context of the Clayton Act, ch. 323, sec. 4, 38 Stat. 731, 15 U.S.C. sec. 15, does not denote physical or emotional harm to a person.) In Zimmerman v. HBO Affiliate Group, 834 F.2d 1163, 1169 (3d Cir. 1987), the Court of Appeals held in this regard as follows: A plaintiff seeking recovery under RICO must allege injury "in his business or property" caused by violation of the Act. In Reuter v. Sonotone, 442 U.S. 330, 99 S.Ct. 2326, 60 L.Ed.2d 931 (1979), the Supreme Court construedPage: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011