Section 4.11 Employment Contracts

• Library: Contracts 2016 Supp

1. (§4.11) Employment Contracts

When the employer breaches an employment contract, the employee is prima facie entitled to recover the contract price. Simpson v. Ball, 129 S.W. 1017 (Mo. App. W.D. 1910). If other similar employment is available and the employee does not take it, the employee is limited to the difference between the price under the breached employment contract and what the employee could have earned in the other employment with some diligence, but the burden is on the employer to allege and prove that
other similar employment is available. Puller v. Royal Cas. Co., 196 S.W. 755 (Mo. 1917). This does not mean that the discharged employee must take any kind of employment to mitigate damages. The substitute employment must be similar to the kind called for under the breached employment contract and in the same general geographical area. Streett v. Laclede-Christy Co., 409 S.W.2d 691 (Mo...