Does an employee have a duty to mitigate his losses upon termination of his employment?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Bradley v. Brains II, Inc., 2000 BCSC 1629 (CanLII):
It is trite law that an employee has a duty to mitigate his losses upon termination of his employment. In Forshaw v. Aluminex Extrusions Ltd. (1989), 1989 CanLII 234 (BC CA), 39 B.C.L.R. (2d) 140 (C.A.) at p. 144, Taylor J.A. stated: The duty to “act reasonably”, in seeking and accepting alternate employment, cannot be a duty to take such steps as will reduce the claim against the defaulting former employer, but must be a duty to take such steps as a reasonable person in the dismissed employee’s position would take in his own interests – to maintain his income and his position in an industry, trade or profession. The question whether or not the employee has acted reasonably must be judged in relation to his own position, and not in relation to that of the employer who has wrongfully dismissed him. The former employer cannot have any right to expect that the former employee will accept lower-paying alternate employment with doubtful prospects, and then sue for the difference between what he makes in that work and what he would have made had he received the notice to which he was entitled. [Emphasis in original]
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