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Flint Construction Co. v. Hall12/30/2004
ompletely mitigate his damages and failed to do so." After denying the motion for a JML, the trial court charged the jury as follows:
"This is the charge as to mitigation. It is the duty of the one injured to exercise ordinary care to reduce his damages. He is bound to exercise such care as a reasonably prudent person would exercise under like circumstances to reduce or mitigate the damages. He can recover only such damages as would have been sustained had such care been exercised."
Flint contends that because Hall turned down a job offer with a company that would have provided him with a salary and benefits comparable to those he received at Flint, he failed to mitigate his damages. Hall testified that he discussed the job referred to by Flint with the owner of the company, but that he and the owner never agreed upon the actual details of the job offer. Furthermore, Hall testified that if he had accepted the job offer, he would have been required to report for work immediately, and he had not yet been released by his doctor to return to work when the job offer was made. Because the evidence concerning Hall's ability to mitigate his damages was conflicting, we conclude that the trial court properly denied Flint's motion for a JML as to this issue and properly submitted the question to the jury for resolution. Absent an affirmative showing that the jury ignored the trial court's instruction to consider Hall's duty to mitigate his damages, error cannot be presumed on appeal, where the trial court properly charged the jury regarding that duty. See Empiregas, Inc. v. Hardy, 487 So. 2d 244 (Ala. 1985). Therefore, we affirm the judgment insofar as it awarded $400,000 in compensatory damages.
B. Punitive Damages
The evidence indicating that Flint discharged Hall solely because he had filed a workers' compensation claim was sharply contested in this case. Nevertheless, as we have previously concluded, the jury had before it substantial evidence to support Hall's claim that the decision-makers knew he had sustained a back injury at work and that he was discharged solely because of his having filed a workers' compensation claim. In addition to the compensatory-damages award, the jury awarded Hall $200,000 in punitive damages.
Flint contends that the trial court erred in entering a judgment on the punitive-damages verdict because, it argues, Hall did not present clear and convincing evidence that Flint "'consciously or deliberately engaged in oppression, fraud, wantonness, or malice with regard to [Hall],'" citing Heil Co. v. Crowley, 659 So. 2d 105, 108 (Ala. 1995) (quoting ยง 6-11-20(a), Ala. Code 1975). Section 6-11-20(b)(4), Ala. Code 1975, defines "clear and convincing evidence" as follows:
"Evidence that, when weighed against evidence in opposition, will produce in the mind of the trier of fact a firm conviction as to each essential element of the claim and a high probability as to the correctness of the conclusion. Proof by clear and convincing evidence requires a level of proof greater than a preponderance of the evidence or the substantial weight of the evidence, but less than beyond a reasonable doubt."
Flint argues that Hall presented no evidence of malice on its part or of a pattern or practice of Flint's discharging employees who had filed workers' compensation claims. If anything, Flint argues in its brief, "the record demonstrates Flint's generosity in settling Hall's prior workers' compensation claims and allowing him excused absences for medical treatment." Hall argues that he presented ample evidence, "including testimony of blatantly false reasons why Flint fired Hall and incredible denials of knowledge of Hall's injury,
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