Employment Discrimination Remedies and Tax Gross Ups

This article considers whether a successful employment discrimination plaintiff may be entitled, under current law, to receive an augmented award (a gross up) to neutralize certain adverse federal income tax consequences. The question of whether such a gross up is allowed, the resolution of which can have drastic effects on litigants, has received almost no attention from practitioners, judges, and academics. Because of the potentially enormous impact of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) on discrimination lawsuit recoveries, however, the gross up issue is now beginning to appear in reported cases. The three principal federal anti-discrimination statutes - Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - generally confer broad equitable powers on the courts to devise remedies that will make the victims of discrimination whole in economic terms. The Internal Revenue Code (Code), however, sometimes operates to frustrate this make-whole objective by taxing a discrimination award more heavily than the components of the award would have been taxed had the components been earned in due course by the plaintiff. This excess taxation gives rise to what this article calls adverse tax consequences. A discrimination plaintiff may suffer adverse tax consequences in two distinct ways. First, amounts recovered to compensate for back pay and front pay losses may be subjected to higher income tax rates than if such amounts had been earned as wages in due course. This increase in tax rates is typically due to the fact that the plaintiff\u27s recovery is in a lump sum; as a result, a portion of the recovery may be subject to marginal rates higher than the plaintiff\u27s typical marginal rate. Second, an employment discrimination recovery could implicate the AMT. If so, the AMT may cause the recovery to be effectively taxed at rates significantly higher than the top marginal rate of 35 percent. In fact, in certain cases, the AMT may cause the tax on the recovery to exceed 100 percent - meaning that a victorious plaintiff would owe more in taxes than her recovery. This AMT trap is notoriously absurd as a matter of tax policy and undermines the national policy of encouraging the pursuit of meritorious civil rights claims. Yet, the trap persists, at least in most areas of the country. The resolution of the gross up issue depends ultimately on whether the federal anti-discrimination remedial provisions permit judges to shift the liability for these adverse tax consequences from the plaintiff - on whom the Internal Revenue Code specifically imposes the liability - to the defendant - whose unlawful conduct necessitated the lawsuit that caused the adverse taxconsequences. The potential vehicle for this shift is the broad equitable powers conferred upon courts to fashion relief in order to make victims of discrimination whole. The issue of whether these broad equitable powers allow judges to shift a portion of the plaintiff\u27s federal income tax liability to defendants is particularly interesting since both the plaintiff\u27s tax liability and the defendant\u27s discrimination liability arise from federal statutes passed by Congress. Thus, the resolution of the issue depends on which body of statutes, the Internal Revenue Code or the pertinent federal anti-discrimination statute, prevails over the other. More generally, though, the issue concerns the courts\u27 willingness to delve into federal income tax matters and focus on after-tax dollars, which are meaningful, rather than pre-tax dollars, which are meaningless. Courts typically have been reluctant to get their hands dirty with tax law if they can avoid it. Determining after-tax income can be a painstaking process and predicting future after-tax income even more so. Nevertheless, we conclude that courts have the authority to provide gross ups to discrimination plaintiffs and should exercise this authority whenever adverse tax consequences are substantial

Assessing the clinical utility of measuring Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins in tissues and sera of melanoma patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Different Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins (IGFBPs) have been investigated as potential biomarkers in several types of tumors. In this study, we examined both IGFBP-3 and -4 levels in tissues and sera of melanoma patients representing different stages of melanoma progression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study cohort consisted of 132 melanoma patients (primary, n = 72; metastatic, n = 60; 64 Male, 68 Female; Median Age = 56) prospectively enrolled in the New York University School of Medicine Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group (NYU IMCG) between August 2002 and December 2006. We assessed tumor-expression and circulating sera levels of IGFBP-3 and -4 using immunohistochemistry and ELISA assays. Correlations with clinicopathologic parameters were examined using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and Spearman-rank correlation coefficients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Median IGFBP-4 tumor expression was significantly greater in primary versus metastatic patients (70% versus 10%, p = 0.01) A trend for greater median IGFBP-3 sera concentration was observed in metastatic versus primary patients (4.9 μg/ml vs. 3.4 μg/ml, respectively, p = 0.09). However, sera levels fell within a normal range for IGFBP-3. Neither IGFBP-3 nor -4 correlated with survival in this subset of patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Decreased IGFBP-4 tumor expression might be a step in the progression from primary to metastatic melanoma. Our data lend support to a recently-described novel tumor suppressor role of secreting IGFBPs in melanoma. However, data do not support the clinical utility of measuring levels of IGFBP-3 and -4 in sera of melanoma patients.</p

Clinical relevance of Neutral Endopeptidase (NEP/CD10) in melanoma

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of Neutral Endopeptidase (NEP) has been reported in metastatic carcinomas, implicating NEP in tumor progression and suggesting a role for NEP inhibitors in its treatment. We investigated the role of NEP expression in the clinical progression of cutaneous melanoma. METHODS: We screened 7 melanoma cell lines for NEP protein expression. NEP-specific siRNA was transfected into the lines to examine the role of gene transcription in NEP expression. Immunohistochemistry was done for 93 specimens and correlated with clinicopathologic parameters. Thirty-seven metastatic melanoma specimens were examined for NEP transcript expression using Affymetrix GeneChips. In a subset of 25 specimens for which both transcript and protein expression was available, expression ratios were used to identify genes that co-express with NEP in GeneChip analysis. RESULTS: NEP was overexpressed in 4/7 human melanoma cell lines, and siRNA knock-down of NEP transcripts led to downregulation of its protein expression. NEP protein overexpression was significantly more common in metastatic versus primary tumors (P = 0.002). Twelve of 37 (32%) metastatic tumors had increased NEP transcript expression, and an association was observed between NEP transcript upregulation and protein overexpression (P < 0.0001). Thirty-eight genes were found to significantly co-express with NEP (p < 0.005). Thirty-three genes positively correlated with NEP, including genes involved in the MAP kinase pathway, antigen processing and presentation, apoptosis, and WNT signaling pathway, and 5 genes negatively correlated with NEP, including genes of focal adhesion and the notch signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: NEP overexpression, which seems to be largely driven by increased transcription, is rare in primary melanoma and occurs late in melanoma progression. Functional studies are needed to better understand the mechanisms of NEP regulation in melanoma

Type 2 diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for the onset of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims/hypothesis: An earlier meta-analysis showed that diabetes is a risk factor for the development and/or recurrence of depression. Yet whether this risk is different for studies using questionnaires than for those relying on diagnostic criteria for depression has not been examined. This study examined the association of diabetes and the onset of depression by reviewing the literature and conducting a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies on this topic. Methods: EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycInfo were searched for articles published up to September 2009. All studies that examined the relationship between type 2 diabetes and the onset of depression were included. Pooled relative risks were calculated using fixed and random effects models. Results: Eleven studies met our inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. Based on the pooled data, including 48,808 cases of type 2 diabetes without depression at baseline, the pooled relative risk was 1.24 (95% CI 1.09–1.40) for the random effects model. This risk was significantly higher for studies relying on diagnostic criteria of depression than for studies using questionnaires. However, this difference was no longer significant when controlled for year of publication. Conclusions/interpretation: Compared with non-diabetic controls, people with type 2 diabetes have a 24% increased risk of developing depression. The mechanisms underlying this relationship are still unclear and warrant further research

Cellobiose Dehydrogenase Aryl Diazonium Modified Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Enhanced Direct Electron Transfer through a Positively Charged Surface

One of the challenges in the field of biosensors and biofuel cells is to establish a highly efficient electron transfer rate between the active site of redox enzymes and electrodes to fully access the catalytic potential of the biocatalyst and achieve high current densities. We report on very efficient direct electron transfer (DET) between cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) from Phanerochaete sordida (PsCDH) and surface modified single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Sonicated SWCNTs were adsorbed on the top of glassy carbon electrodes and modified with aryl diazonium salts generated in situ from p-aminobenzoic acid and p-phenylenediamine, thus featuring at acidic pH (3.5 and 4.5) negative or positive surface charges. After adsorption of PsCDH, both electrode types showed excellent long-term stability and very efficient DET. The modified electrode presenting p-aminophenyl groups produced a DET current density of 500,mu A cm(-2) at 200 mV vs normal hydrogen reference electrode (NHE) in a 5 mM lactose solution buffered at pH 3.5. This is the highest reported DET value so far using a CDH modified electrode and comes close to electrodes using mediated electron transfer. Moreover, the onset of the electrocatalytic current for lactose oxidation started at 70 mV vs NHE, a potential which is 50 mV lower compared to when unmodified SWCNTs were used. This effect potentially reduces the interference by oxidizable matrix components in biosensors and increases the open circuit potential in biofuel cells. The stability of the electrode was greatly increased compared with unmodified but cross-linked SWCNTs electrodes and lost only 15% of the initial current after 50 h of constant potential scanning

Experience-based VAS values for EQ-5D-3L health states in a national general population health survey in China

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of deriving experience-based visual analogue scale (VAS) values for EQ-5D-3L health states using national general population health survey data in China. Methods: The EQ-5D-3L was included in the National Health Services Survey (n = 120,709, aged 15–103 years) to measure health-related quality of life. The respondents reported their current health status on a VAS and completed the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire, enabling modelling of the association between the experience-based VAS values and self-reported problems on EQ-5D dimensions and severity levels. Results: VAS values were generally negatively associated with problems reported on the EQ-5D dimensions, and the anxiety/depression dimension had the greatest impact on VAS values. A previously obtained value for dead allowed the values for all 243 EQ-5D-3L health states to be transformed to the 0–1 scale (0 = dead, 1 = full health). Conclusions: This study presents the feasibility of deriving an experience-based VAS values for EQ-5D-3L health states in China. The analysis of these VAS data raises more fundamental issues concerning the universal nature of the classification system and the extent to which Chinese respondents utilise the same concepts of health as defined by this classification system

A Phase II Trial of Sorafenib in Metastatic Melanoma with Tissue Correlates

Sorafenib monotherapy in patients with metastatic melanoma was explored in this multi-institutional phase II study. In correlative studies the impact of sorafenib on cyclin D1 and Ki67 was assessed. mutational status and clinical activity. No significant changes in expression of cyclin D1 or Ki67 with sorafenib treatment were demonstrable in the 15 patients with pre-and post-treatment tumor samples. mutational status of the tumor was not associated with clinical activity and no significant effect of sorafenib on cyclin D1 or Ki67 was seen, suggesting that sorafenib is not an effective BRAF inhibitor or that additional signaling pathways are equally important in the patients who benefit from sorafenib

P53 in human melanoma fails to regulate target genes associated with apoptosis and the cell cycle and may contribute to proliferation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Metastatic melanoma represents a major clinical problem. Its incidence continues to rise in western countries and there are currently no curative treatments. While mutation of the <it>P53 </it>tumour suppressor gene is a common feature of many types of cancer, mutational inactivation of <it>P53 </it>in melanoma is uncommon; however, its function often appears abnormal.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study whole genome bead arrays were used to examine the transcript expression of P53 target genes in extracts from 82 melanoma metastases and 6 melanoma cell lines, to provide a global assessment of aberrant P53 function. The expression of these genes was also examined in extracts derived from diploid human melanocytes and fibroblasts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results indicated that P53 target transcripts involved in apoptosis were under-expressed in melanoma metastases and melanoma cell lines, while those involved in the cell cycle were over-expressed in melanoma cell lines. There was little difference in the transcript expression of P53 target genes between cell lines with null/mutant <it>P53 </it>compared to those with wild-type <it>P53</it>, suggesting that altered expression in melanoma was not related to <it>P53 </it>status. Similarly, down-regulation of P53 by short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) had limited effect on P53 target gene expression in melanoma cells, whereas there were a large number of P53 target genes whose mRNA expression was significantly altered by P53 inhibition in melanocytes. Analysis of whole genome gene expression profiles indicated that the ability of P53 to regulate genes involved in the cell cycle was significantly reduced in melanoma cells. Moreover, inhibition of P53 in melanocytes induced changes in gene expression profiles that were characteristic of melanoma cells and resulted in increased proliferation. Conversely, knockdown of P53 in melanoma cells resulted in decreased proliferation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that P53 target genes involved in apoptosis and cell cycle regulation are aberrantly expressed in melanoma and that this aberrant functional activity of P53 may contribute to the proliferation of melanoma.</p