Opinion ID: 457737
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Backpay Award to Cheryl Tucker

Text: 68 Ms. Tucker, a former PFWP staff member, was laid off on May 8, 1978, due to the termination of that program, and maintained no further communications with Petitioner. The Secretary noted that it was undisputed that Ms. Tucker was laid off due to the dissolution of the County-funded PFWP, which was replaced by the CETA-funded WAP, and thus concluded that the layoff was a displacement of a currently employed worker in violation of the maintenance-of-effort and anti-displacement provisions of the Act. 14 The County was ordered to take affirmative steps to locate Ms. Tucker, to offer her reinstatement to a comparable position, and to award her backpay plus interest from non-CETA funds; however, the County could offset against this award, upon proof submitted to the Grant Officer, any amounts of wages earned by Ms. Tucker or of general assistance paid to her by the County after her layoff. 15 69 The County does not contest the finding of liability and apparently does not challenge the reinstatement order. It does maintain, however, that (1) the award of backpay should be remanded to the DOL due to the absence of findings on the extent of Ms. Tucker's injury and on her efforts to mitigate those damages and (2) the Secretary improperly limited the scope of offsetting payments for the backpay award. Once again, there is little reliance on relevant legal authority and no citation to the record in the County's brief. 70 Because Ms. Tucker was terminated without cause in violation of the maintenance-of-effort and anti-displacement provisions of the Act, there is no serious question that backpay was an appropriate remedy. See City of Chicago v. United States Department of Labor, 753 F.2d 606, 607-08 (7th Cir.1985). It is, of course, unreasonable under these circumstances to require that the Secretary set an exact amount on the backpay award, as this liability continues to accrue until reinstatement. In any event, the Secretary intended that a calculation of the precise amounts be made by the parties, with the aid of the Grant Officer, if necessary. 71 The County had the burden of proving that Ms. Tucker failed to make reasonable efforts to mitigate her damages. Cf. Hanna v. American Motors Corp., 724 F.2d 1300, 1306-07 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 3512, 82 L.Ed.2d 821 (1984); Syvock v. Milwaukee Boiler Manufacturing Co., Inc., 665 F.2d 149, 159 (7th Cir.1981); NLRB v. Nickey Chevrolet Sales, Inc., 493 F.2d 103, 107-08 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 834, 95 S.Ct. 60, 42 L.Ed.2d 60 (1974). Petitioner, however, has in no way indicated that it attempted to locate Ms. Tucker in order to determine the extent of her damages or her efforts at mitigation. In view of the County's concession of liability and its failure of proof, a remand on the issue of mitigation is inappropriate in this protracted dispute. 72 Finally, we perceive no deficiency in the scope of the payments that may be offset against the backpay award. Petitioner has cited no authority in support of its position and we find that the Secretary's order was reasonable. As the County is at fault, it would be inappropriate to allow it to offset funds paid to Ms. Tucker by other governmental entities, as these payments would constitute benefits from a collateral source and deducting them would in effect relieve the County of its obligation to make the former employee whole. The responsibility, if any, for repayment to other governmental entities lies with Ms. Tucker. The Secretary was simply permitting the County to offset payments that it may have already made to Ms. Tucker from other sources after the layoff. 73 The ALJ's order concerning Ms. Tucker will be affirmed.