ECONOMIC LOSS
Mitigation of Damages in Employment
In wrongful discharge cases, a plaintiff is often required to mitigate the damages suffered as a result of the lost employment. Accordingly, the calculation of economic damages should take into account what the employee might have earned had he or she properly mitigated his or her losses. Thus the calculation of lost compensation can be more complicated than the projection of what the employee would have earned had they not been wrongfully terminated.
Key questions addressed by the Employment Research Corporation analysis may include:
- If an employee did not find employment prior to the trial, did the employee do a "reasonable" job of looking for work?
- What jobs were available in the employee's labor market?
- How much would a wrongfully terminated employee have earned if not terminated?
- If an employee did a "reasonable" job of looking for work and still did not find comparable work, what is likely to be:
- The length of time before finding work
- The progression of future wages
In evaluating an employee's job search, Employment Research Corporation uses a unique analysis based on economic indicators to place the employee's job opportunities in a relevant context. The labor market situation may vary based on several factors, such as the appropriate definition of the geographic area in which the employee was looking for work, the relevant time period, and the employee's profession, industry, and qualifications.
The Employment Research Corporation mitigation report may include the following sections:
- Labor market analysis
- Analysis of occupational qualifications
- Ad search database and/or copies of relevant ads
- Analysis of comparable employees
- Estimated duration of unemployment
- Estimated future earnings
- Loss calculation
- Summary of findings
Employment Research Corporation has prepared mitigation reports and calculations of economic loss for plaintiffs and defendants, involving large and small organizations in the public and private sectors in matters involving many different industries and occupations. Employment Research Corporation has been a consultant to several government agencies including the EEOC, OFCCP and the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor.
