Section 12 Ability to Perform Other Work After the Injury

• Library: Damages 2012

Once a plaintiff makes a prima facie showing of inability to work, the burden shifts to the defendant to show the plaintiff’s remaining earning capacity. See Moore v. Ready Mixed Concrete Co., 329 S.W.2d 14, 31 (Mo. banc 1959). The evidence that the defendant offers in mitigation of the plaintiff’s lost earnings must also meet the criteria of “reasonable certainty.” For example, in Chaussard v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co., 536 S.W.2d 822, 827 (Mo. App. W.D. 1976), the defendant’s offer of proof that...