Section 6 Credits and Offsets

• Library: Damages 2012

“Credits and offsets are affirmative defenses.” Echols v. City of Riverside, 332 S.W.3d 207, 210 (Mo. App. W.D. 2010). The burden is on the employer to plead and prove an affirmative defense of credit or offset.

Generally, unemployment compensation is a collateral source and should not be considered in calculating damages. Burens v. Wolfe Wear‑U‑Well Corp., 158 S.W.2d 175, 179 (Mo. App. W.D. 1942); Gaworski v. ITT Commercial Fin. Corp., 17 F.3d 1104 (8^th Cir. 1994). In Burens, the Western District of the Court of Appeals stated:

[I]t would not have been proper for defendant to plead and prove unemployment compensation received by plaintiff. Such compensation is not a...