Case 1:18-cv-01011-RMC Document 42 Filed 08/09/19 Page 14 of 19
3. Conclusion
Ms. Dumpson has presented well-plead claims against Moonbase Holdings and
Messrs. Anglin and Ade for interference with Ms. Dumpson’s right to full and equal enjoyment
of places of public accommodation and an educational institution and intentional infliction of
emotional distress. Because Moonbase Holdings and Messrs. Anglin and Ade have not
responded, default judgment will be entered.
B. Damages
1. Compensatory Damages10
Compensatory damages “are intended to redress the concrete loss that the plaintiff
has suffered by reason of the defendant’s wrongful conduct.” State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v.
Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 416 (2003) (quotation marks and citation omitted). They “make
plaintiffs whole for the harms that they have suffered as a result of defendants’ actions.”
Embassy of Fed. Republic of Nigeria v. Ugwuonye, 945 F. Supp. 2d 81, 85 (D.D.C. 2013)
(quoting Hendry v. Pelland, 73 F.3d 397, 402 (D.C. Cir. 1996)). Compensatory damages include
economic damages, which are a concrete loss, and damages for “pain, suffering, and mental
anguish” for which the amount of damages is not a sum certain. Robinson v. Ergo Sols., LLC, 4
F. Supp. 3d 171, 178 (D.D.C. 2014). In these default circumstances, a court has latitude in
determining an award of compensatory damages and may do so after an independent evaluation.
See Sanchez, 322 F.R.D. at 35. Joint and several liability is proper when defendants’
“independent acts combined to cause a single injury.” District of Columbia v. Wash. Hosp. Ctr.,
722 A.2d 332, 336-37 (D.C. 1998); see also Fred A. Smith Mgmt. Co. v. Cerpe, 957 A.2d 907,
10
Plaintiffs may recover compensatory damages for emotional pain and suffering under the
DCHRA. See Sumes v. Andres, 938 F. Supp. 9, 13 (D.D.C. 1996).
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