JOYCE QUINLAN VS.
CURTISS-WRIGHT CORPORATION
A-5728-06T1
In this employment case brought
pursuant to the Law Against
Discrimination, we examine, at
the Supreme Court's direction,
various open issues that were
not previously resolved on appeal.
See Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright
Corp., 204 N.J. 239 (2010),
reversing in part Quinlan v.
Curtiss-Wright Corp., 409 N.J.
Super. 193, 218 (App. Div.
2008).
Although we affirm the verdict in plaintiff's favor on
liability, we conclude that the
trial court erred in instructing
the jury that the defendant
employer bore the burden of proving
that plaintiff would fail to
mitigate her damages in the future.
In addition, the jury charge
should have made clear that
plaintiff bore the specific
burden of proving a reasonably
likely period of time that her
loss of earnings would continue
into the future. Because the jury's $3.65 million award
in
future economic losses could
have been affected by the flawed
instructions, we remand for a
new trial on the issues of front
pay and other related
damages.
We also refer to the Model Civil Jury Charge Committee a
request to develop a charge on
front pay, including instructions
addressing these particular issues
of reasonable duration and
mitigation. 04-05-12
