West v. Bechtel Corp., 96 Cal. App. 4th 966 (2002)

Plaintiff, a former engineer who worked for Bechtel Corp. for more than 30 years, sued the company for age discrimination and breach of contract. At trial, plaintiff received a jury verdict of $101,852.27 for lost salary and emotional distress damages. The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment on the age discrimination claim for lack of substantial evidence. As to the judgment for breach of contract, the Court held that plaintiff had failed to make reasonable efforts to obtain employment after Bechtel’s breach. As a result of plaintiff’s failure to mitigate his damages, he was not entitled to the $51,852.27 in lost salary the jury awarded him.