Opinion ID: 760179
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: lsc's cross-appeal

Text: 54 On its cross-appeal, LSC challenges the jury's award of $125,000 in backpay, arguing (1) that Hawkins did not take reasonable steps to mitigate her damages after she was discharged from LSC, and (2) that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that the period for which Hawkins was entitled to backpay should end as of such time as the jury found that LSC learned Hawkins had engaged in conduct for which she would have been permissibly discharged. We see no basis for reversal.
55 Defendants contend that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law reducing Hawkins's backpay award for failure to mitigate her damages (1) during a period in 1992 in which she was not employed, and (2) from January 1994 through the time of trial, during which period she was self-employed. We reject the notion that the evidence presented by Hawkins was insufficient to permit the jury to find that she took reasonable steps in an effort to mitigate her damages. 56 An employee discharged in violation of Title VII has an obligation to attempt to mitigate her damages by using reasonable diligence in finding other suitable employment. Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 458 U.S. 219, 231, 102 S.Ct. 3057, 73 L.Ed.2d 721 (1982); see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g)(1). This obligation is not onerous and does not require her to be successful. See, e.g., Dailey v. Societe Generale, 108 F.3d 451, 456 (2d Cir.1997). In order to reduce the meritorious claimant's entitlement to backpay, the defendant employer has the burden of demonstrating that she has failed to attempt to mitigate. This burden may be met by establishing (1) that suitable work existed, and (2) that the employee did not make reasonable efforts to obtain it. See, e.g., id.; Clarke v. Frank, 960 F.2d 1146, 1152 (2d Cir.1992). 57 The ultimate question is whether the plaintiff acted reasonably in attempting to gain other employment or in rejecting proffered employment. Pierce v. F.R. Tripler & Co., 955 F.2d 820, 830 (2d Cir.1992). For example, although an unemployed claimant would generally forfeit her right to backpay if she refused a job substantially equivalent to the one she was denied, she need not go into another line of work, accept a demotion, or take a demeaning position. Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 458 U.S. at 231, 102 S.Ct. 3057. Similarly, a claimant who voluntarily resigned from comparable employment for personal reasons would not have adequately mitigated damages, but a voluntary quit does not toll the back pay period when it is motivated by unreasonable working conditions or an earnest search for better employment. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Delight Wholesale Co., 973 F.2d 664, 670 (8th Cir.1992). Self-employment, if it is undertaken in good faith and is a reasonable alternative to seeking other comparable employment, may be considered permissible mitigation. See, e.g., Smith v. Great American Restaurants, Inc., 969 F.2d 430, 438 (7th Cir.1992) (jury could conclude that plaintiff's opening of her own restaurant was a reasonable venture); Carden v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 850 F.2d 996, 1005 (3d Cir.1988) ([A] self-employed person is 'employed' for the purposes of mitigating damages if establishing a business of his own was a reasonable alternative to finding other comparable employment.). But see Hansard v. Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Co., 865 F.2d 1461, 1468 (5th Cir.) (ADEA plaintiff's opening of part-time flea market booth did not constitute self-employment sufficient to satisfy obligation to attempt to mitigate damages), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 842, 110 S.Ct. 129, 107 L.Ed.2d 89 (1989). The question whether an employee has made reasonably diligent efforts is one of fact for the jury. See, e.g., Dailey v. Societe Generale, 108 F.3d at 456-57. 58 In the present case, as the district court found in denying defendants' posttrial motions, defendants did not demonstrate that the jury's backpay award of $125,000 was unsupported by the evidence. Hawkins was fired on April 16, 1992; she began working at the law office of C. Vernon Mason on July 27, 1992. Defendants contend that she should have begun working for Mason immediately upon his offering her a position, a few weeks after she was fired by LSC. The evidence showed that Hawkins accepted Mason's offer but scheduled her starting date for early July. That date was then delayed until July 27 by the death of Hawkins's mother. The interval was hardly so long as to be unreasonable as a matter of law. Further, as the district court noted, Hawkins's 59 work for Mason involved longer hours, fewer fringe benefits, and more stressful work than she was performing before defendants terminated her employment. A person need only make reasonable efforts to mitigate damages by seeking substantially comparable employment. The jury could reasonably conclude that plaintiff acted appropriately and reasonably in taking some time for herself to obtain a satisfactory position after she was unlawfully terminated. The jury could also reasonably conclude that she made appropriate efforts to earn money as a self-employed lawyer after finding the working conditions with Mason unsatisfactory. A victim of discrimination may seek income through self-employment as a reasonable alternative to finding substantially equivalent employment. 60 Posttrial Ruling at 8-9. We see no error in these rulings.
61 An employer's discovery, after its discriminatory or retaliatory discharge of an employee, that the employee had engaged in conduct that would have led to a lawful discharge if the employer had been aware of that conduct, may limit the employee's backpay award to the period between the unlawful termination and the date on which the discovery was actually made. See, e.g., McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Co., 513 U.S. 352, 362, 115 S.Ct. 879, 130 L.Ed.2d 852 (1995); Vichare v. AMBAC Inc., 106 F.3d 457, 468 (2d Cir.1996); Padilla v. Metro-North Commuter R.R., 92 F.3d 117, 124 (2d Cir.1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1274, 117 S.Ct. 2453, 138 L.Ed.2d 211 (1997). LSC argues that the jury should have been instructed that the period for which Hawkins was entitled to backpay ended as of the date LSC discovered--shortly before trial commenced, according to Hamilton (Tr. 242)--that Hawkins had violated LSC's written policy forbidding its attorneys to engage in the practice of law other than for LSC. This contention has not been preserved for appeal. 62 Although LSC states that it sought a jury instruction ... to cut off back pay as of the date it learned that Hawkins had violated LSC's policy (LSC brief on appeal at 68), we have found no such request in the record. At the only page of the transcript to which LSC cites to support its assertion that it requested such an instruction on backpay, its counsel asked the court to instruct the jury that if it found that plaintiff committed an act of wrongdoing before her discharge which alone would have resulted in her discharge had the employer known about it while she was employed, then the jury should make [n]o award of future damages. (Tr. 485 (emphasis added).) We conclude that defendants' present contention with regard to backpay was not presented to the district court, and we see no good reason to overlook that failure.