Which award is considered special damages in Mitsuki's case?

• A. Emotional distress
• B. Pain and suffering
• C. Loss of earnings
• D. Disfigurement

Answer: (C)

Special damages are the monetary losses you can quantify and prove with records, such as wages lost, medical bills, and other out-of-pocket costs. Loss of earnings fits this perfectly because it measures income the plaintiff would have earned but couldn’t due to the injury, and it can be calculated from pay stubs, tax forms, and work history. The other harms listed—emotional distress, pain and suffering, and disfigurement—are non-economic harms that reflect the subjective impact of the injury, not specific dollars spent or lost, so they’re categorized as general damages. Therefore, loss of earnings is the example of special damages.