Opinion ID: 2198126
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Back Pay and Front Pay

Text: Johnson asserts that the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to award him back pay for the period from February 3, 2003, to August 4, 2003. The first date is when the Director of Sales position at WCCA was abolished and the latter is when the jury returned its verdict. He also complains that the trial court failed to reinstate him or to award front pay in lieu of reinstatement. Generally, in reviewing challenges to equitable relief granted in employment cases . . ., we `consider[ ] whether the [trial court] was clearly erroneous in its factual findings and whether it abused its traditional discretion to locate a just result in light of circumstances peculiar to the case.' Watkins v. District of Columbia, 944 A.2d 1077, 1081 (D.C.2008) (quoting Fogg v. Gonzales, 377 U.S.App. D.C. 148, 153, 492 F.3d 447, 452 (2007) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). The trial court `has broad discretion to fashion appropriate equitable relief for a. . . plaintiff including, but not limited to, reinstatement; this court's review is therefore limited to determining whether the [trial] court abused that discretion.' Id. (quoting Webb v. District of Columbia, 331 U.S.App. D.C. 23, 35, 146 F.3d 964, 976 (1998) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted)). The trial court may `order such affirmative action as may be appropriate, which may include, but is not limited to, . . . hiring of employees, with or without back pay, . . . or any equitable relief as the court deems appropriate. . . .' Id. (citing Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n, 458 U.S. 219, 226, 102 S.Ct. 3057, 73 L.Ed.2d 721 (1982) (emphasis omitted)). Front pay is also an available remedy for discriminatory termination. See Ottenberg's Bakers, Inc. v. District of Columbia Comm'n on Human Rights, 917 A.2d 1094, 1105 & n. 19 (D.C.2007); see also Davis v. Combustion Engineering, Inc., 742 F.2d 916, 922 (6th Cir.1984) (front pay is an award of damages in lieu of reinstatement after trial); accord Endres v. Helms, 617 F.Supp. 1260, 1269 (D.D.C.1985). We have reviewed the record and see nothing to persuade us that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to award damages between February 3, 2003, and August 4, 2003. See Johnson v. United States, 398 A.2d 354 (D.C.1979) (comprehensive discussion of abuse of discretion standard of review). The court found that the Sales Director job had been eliminated in February 2003 and reasoned that [it] is not fair to require WCCA to pay Plaintiff backpay for a job that indisputably no longer exists at WCCA. Johnson argues that this determination is clearly erroneous, but fails to point us to evidence in the record which satisfies this demanding standard. See Wolf v. District of Columbia, 597 A.2d 1303, 1308 (D.C.1991) (`Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous.' (quoting Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985))). The same eminently sensible reasoning justifies the denial of reinstatement or front pay. As defendants point out, Johnson, like Seay, would have been terminated in February 2003, at the latest.