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School Enrollment Can Mitigate Damages Under FMLA
In calculating damages, courts typically look to see whether the injured party took reasonable steps to reduce its loss and reduce the recovery if the party failed to mitigate its damages. In the employment law context, the mitigation requirement is commonly seen in a terminated employee's obligation to diligently search for comparable employment. However, a growing number of courts have ruled that finding a new job is not the only possible means of mitigation. In Killian v. Yorozu Auto. Tenn., 454 F.3d 549 (6th Cir. 2006), the Sixth Circuit held that a terminated employee's enrollment in school after a diligent job search constitutes sufficient mitigation of damages.
Jackie Killian worked for Yorozu as a first-shift spot welder. During an approved FMLA leave, Killian requested a leave extension, which was orally granted but never documented. On the day after her leave expired, Killian was fired. After trying unsuccessfully to regain her job at Yorozu, Killian looked for a new first-shift job with comparable pay but was unable to find such a position. Killian entered cosmetology school, completed the courses, obtained a license, and found a full-time job at a local hair salon.
The Sixth Circuit held that Killian sufficiently mitigated her damages. Dismissing Yorozu's argument that Killian's enrollment in cosmetology school interfered with her mitigation and should limit the amount of her award, the court joined a number of other circuits in holding that enrollment in school after a diligent job search does not constitute a failure to mitigate. |
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