A plaintiff in a sexual harassment case can be denied any recovery for “losses which are shown to have resulted from the plaintiff’s failure to use reasonable efforts to avoid or prevent harm,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held Dec. 14 (Savino v. C.P. Hall Co., 7th Cir., No. 98-4257, 12/14/99).
The court, in an opinion written by Judge Daniel A. Manion, affirmed the validity of a jury instruction that said, in part, that if the jury found that a defendant in a sexual harassment case had established an affirmative defense by a preponderance of the evidence, “you may eliminate the defendant’s liability or, alternatively, reduce the plaintiff’s damages from the date you find the affirmative defense was established by the defendant.”
