Mitigation – A Duty To Act In Your Own Professional Interest

When no work is available in a particular field, dismissed employees may undertake reasonable mitigation efforts by pursuing re-training to work in different areas. However, a recent case illustrates that courts will not force employers to fund educational endeavors for dismissed employees who are perfectly capable of finding work in their current fields.

The plaintiff in Schinnerl v. Kwantlen Polytechnic University was 48 years old, and was in the process of completing a PhD in education and immigration policy at the time of her dismissal. She had worked for the defendant, a university, as Director of Public Programs and Exchanges for 9 years, and was terminated without cause due to restructuring.