Opinion ID: 1443016
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Was the Award of Front Pay Appropriate?

Text: FDC argues that the award of damages for future lost earnings, or front pay, was unsupported by the evidence and was error. Nevertheless, evidence was presented that Smith attempted to find work and was unable to do so, and, in consideration of the discrimination precipitating Smith's situation, it was not inappropriate for the court to estimate future lost earnings based upon Smith's past income. See Patterson v. American Tobacco Co., 535 F.2d 257, 269 (4th Cir.) (allowing back pay award to be supplemented at trial court's discretion by an award equal to the estimated present value of lost earnings that are reasonably likely to occur between the date of judgment and the time when the employee can assume his new position), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 920, 97 S.Ct. 314, 50 L.Ed.2d 286 (1976); Whittlesey v. Union Carbide Corp., 742 F.2d 724, 729 (2d Cir.1984) (allowing trial court discretion in age discrimination case to award front pay for four-year period from trial to compulsory retirement age). As the court in Whittlesey stated: [W]e think that front pay is, in limited circumstances, an appropriate remedy under the [Age Discrimination in Employment Act]. It serves a necessary role in making victims of discrimination whole in cases where the factfinder can reasonably predict that the plaintiff has no reasonable prospect of obtaining comparable alternative employment. 742 F.2d at 729; see also Maxfield, 766 F.2d at 795-97 (upholding award of front pay when reinstatement not feasible). We find that evidence of Smith's inability to find full-time employment in his locality, despite his strenuous efforts, constitutes sufficient evidence of his inability to mitigate damages to support the court's discretion in determining that future employment would be unlikely and to support an award of front pay.