The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that a jury in determining future economic damages is not bound to accept the earnings of the plaintiff at the time of the injury as being conclusive of future earning power. In Andler v. Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc. 670 F.3d 717 (6th Cir. 2012) the jury found defendant liable for injuries the plaintiff sustained at a camp site. Prior to her injury, the plaintiff worked part-time at a child care center and earned between $9,000 and $10,000 a year. She claimed that her injuries forced her to switch jobs and in the years following the injury, she worked full time as a manicurist and a pedicurist earning approximately $10,000 in 2006 and $25,000 in 2008. The jury did not award any recovery for lost earning capacity. The court excluded expert testimony concerning the amount of wages the plaintiff would be capable of earning over her working life. In reversing the district court and sending the matter back for a trial on damages the court said:
“The damages are awarded for loss of earning power, not simply loss of earnings. The proper focus is thus what the injured plaintiff could have earned over the course of her working life without the injury versus what she will now earn, not what she earned or will earn in any given year. See id. (plaintiff must show that “the amount of wages [he] will be capable of earning over his working life after his injury is less than the amount of wages he was capable of earning over his working life before his injury”). Accordingly, the fact that a plaintiff earns a higher annual salary after an injury than she did prior to the injury does not bar her from recovering for loss of earning capacity.”(p 726)