In determining the type of positions which are suitable or substantially equivalent to the position lost by the employee, a plaintiff does not need to accept a position which is not equal in terms of status, duties, responsibilities, working conditions, and opportunities for advancement. A wrongfully terminated employee does not have to accept a demotion for the purpose of mitigation. In order to satisfy the mitigation requirement, a claimant need not go into another line of work, accept a demotion, or take a demeaning position. Self Employment is an Acceptable Method of Mitigation. To mitigate damages a discharged employee is not required to seek employment similar in nature to the work he performed for his former employer.
Self employment constitutes a form of reasonable diligence.
Burnside , supra at 529-530. There, the plaintiff gave up the teaching profession upon his illegal discharge and elected to pursue a career as a self-employed carpenter. The defendant argued that because the plaintiff chose not to return to the teaching profession for a period for five years, he should be denied back pay for that period. Requirement of Reasonable Diligence. The defendant's burden is not satisfied merely by showing that the plaintiff failed to do all that he could have done in order to mitigate damages.