Error to Dismiss Failure-to-Mitigate-Damages Affirmative Defense in Contract Dispute

In a contract dispute, the Second Department determined Supreme Court should not have dismissed the defendant-Everfoam’s affirmative defense alleging plaintiffs failed to mitigate damages, noting that the duty to mitigate arises from the common law and need not be expressly bargained for in the contract:

…[T]he Supreme Court erred in awarding summary judgment dismissing Everfoam’s fourth affirmative defense alleging that the plaintiffs failed to mitigate damages, based on its determination that “no such duty exists within the parties’ contract.” To the contrary, the duty to mitigate damages arising from a breach of contract is a duty that arises from common law and, therefore, need not be expressly bargained for in a contract to be enforceable … . Accordingly, assuming liability, Everfoam should be entitled to limit damages, if any, if the plaintiffs failed to make “reasonable exertions to minimize the injury” … . Mack-Cali Realty LP v Everfoam Insulation Sys Ind, 2013 NY Slip Op 06348, 2nd Dept 10-2-13