Also known as: minimize loss · minimizing losses · minimized loss · mitigation of damages · duty to mitigate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A principle requiring a party injured by a breach or tort to take reasonable steps to reduce the resulting damages rather than allowing them to accumulate.
Leah Lamb's property suffered flooding from Lone Peak Energy's negligent pipeline work. The same work installed improved drainage that increased the land's value by half the repair cost. The court reduced Leah's damages award by the value of the drainage improvement under the benefit rule.
Luna Lang sued a cigarette maker after developing lung disease. Evidence showed she continued smoking heavily after warnings appeared on packs. The jury reduced her damages by the percentage of harm attributed to her own continued conduct.
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Laura Lewis refused a substitute film role offered after her original contract was breached. The role was substantially similar in pay and prestige. The court limited her recovery to the difference between the original salary and the substitute she declined.
Liam Larson suffered enhanced injuries in a car crash because he was not wearing a seatbelt. The manufacturer proved the omission increased his harm. The jury reduced his damages award by the percentage attributable to his failure to buckle up.
Lance Lee abandoned his apartment mid-lease. The landlord made no effort to advertise or show the unit to new tenants. The court denied recovery for rent that could have been avoided through reasonable reletting efforts.
Leo Lynch challenged his layoff under the ADEA. The employer claimed the decision rested on reasonable factors other than age. The Supreme Court placed the burden on the employer to prove that defense rather than requiring the employee to disprove it.
Yes. A landlord seeking relief under the uniform act must make reasonable efforts to relet the unit. The duty applies even when the tenant wrongfully abandons, and the landlord may not recover rent that could have been avoided through reasonable reletting.
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The party may not recover the portion of damages that could have been avoided. In the restaurant lease case, the landlord's refusal to relet to an available tenant at reduced rent prevented full recovery of the remaining rent.
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Courts weigh whether acceptance would impose an undue burden. Rejection of conditional grants that would halve a nonprofit's project size may be reasonable if the change would abandon the organization's defining purpose, allowing full recovery.
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A buyer must still take reasonable steps to prevent loss that could have been avoided by cover or otherwise. Failure to explore known leasing options before breach may limit recovery even when the seller knew of special circumstances.
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…has, however, been undermined by the adoption in California of a rule that lessors — like all other contracting parties — have a duty to mitigate damages upon the lessee's abandonment of the property by seeking a substitute lessee. (See Civ. Code, § 1951.2.) (8) Furthermore, the values that go into the personal selection of a lessee…