Opinion ID: 755554
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The June 1994 Cutoff of the Backpay Period

Text: 79 Kirsch contends that the district court erred in ruling that the period for which he was entitled to backpay ended in June 1994. We reject this contention in light of the evidentiary and procedural record in this case. 80 A plaintiff who has proven a discharge in violation of the ADEA is, as a general matter, entitled to backpay from the date of discharge until the date of judgment. See, e.g., Dunlap-McCuller v. Riese Organization, 980 F.2d 153, 159 (2d Cir.1992), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 908, 114 S.Ct. 290, 126 L.Ed.2d 239 (1993); Saulpaugh v. Monroe Community Hospital, 4 F.3d 134, 144 (2d Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1164, 114 S.Ct. 1189, 127 L.Ed.2d 539 (1994); Thorne v. City of El Segundo, 802 F.2d 1131, 1136 (9th Cir.1986) (court should compute the backpay award from the date of the discriminatory act until the date of final judgment). The backpay period ends prior to judgment, however, if the plaintiff has theretofore retired, for a discriminatee is not entitled to back pay to the extent that he fails to remain in the labor market, NLRB v. Mastro Plastics Corp., 354 F.2d 170, 174 n. 3 (2d Cir.1965) (discussing backpay entitlement under National Labor Relations Act), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 972, 86 S.Ct. 1862, 16 L.Ed.2d 682 (1966). A plaintiff may not simply abandon his job search and continue to recover back pay. Hansard v. Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Co., 865 F.2d 1461, 1468 (5th Cir.) (ADEA plaintiff not entitled to backpay for period after he stopped looking for work), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 842, 110 S.Ct. 129, 107 L.Ed.2d 89 (1989); see, e.g., Thorne v. City of El Segundo, 802 F.2d at 1133-38 (no backpay for four-year period in which Title VII plaintiff chose not to work). 81 In the present case, the jury was not asked to make a finding as to when Kirsch retired. Rather, it was informed that he had retired in June 1994, in the question Did plaintiff make a diligent search for other work in the period after he retired to Florida in June 1994 (Verdict Form Question 7 (emphasis added)). The formulation of this question was doubtless based on Kirsch's testimony that when he and his wife moved to Florida in June 1994, I retired (First Tr. 164). And although Kirsch also testified that he had not wanted to retire before age 70 (i.e., some 3 1/2 years after the move to Florida), we see no indication in the record that he objected to the verdict form's description of him as having retired. Consistent with Kirsch's having retired, and consistent with his testimony that the extent of his efforts to seek work after moving to Florida was to inform some of his New York acquaintances that he was available to show their products in Florida, the jury found that after moving to Florida, Kirsch did not make a diligent search for other work. Further, having been instructed that Kirsch could be awarded front pay only if future damages were caused by the constructive discharge, the jury found--again consistent with Kirsch's having retired in June 1994--that Kirsch was not entitled to any front pay. 82 If Kirsch wanted a finding by the jury as to when he retired, it was incumbent on him at least to request, prior to the start of the jury's deliberations, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 49(a), that such a question be included in the verdict form and that the answer to that question not be treated as undisputed elsewhere in the verdict form. Since no such question was submitted or requested, if the question of when Kirsch retired was in dispute when the case was submitted to the jury, the resolution of that issue was left to the trial judge. See, e.g., id.; Cullen v. Margiotta, 811 F.2d 698, 730-31 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1021, 107 S.Ct. 3266, 97 L.Ed.2d 764 (1987), overruled on other grounds, Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc., 483 U.S. 143, 107 S.Ct. 2759, 97 L.Ed.2d 121 (1987); Getty Petroleum Corp. v. Island Transportation Corp., 878 F.2d 650, 656 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1006, 109 S.Ct. 1642, 104 L.Ed.2d 157 (1989). 83 To the extent that the question was in dispute, the trial court fulfilled its responsibility to make a finding on that issue, ruling that Kirsch had retired in June 1994. In light of Kirsch's own testimony, that ruling cannot be overturned. The court's conclusion that the period for which Kirsch was entitled to backpay ended in June 1994 was therefore correct.