1 On April 17,
1996, the Secretary of Labor delegated authority to issue final
agency decisions under this statute and the implementing
regulations to the newly created Administrative Review Board
(ARB). Secretary's Order 2-96 (Apr. 17, 1996), 61 Fed. Reg.
19978, May 3, 1996. Secretary's Order 2-96 contains a
comprehensive list of the statutes, executive order, and
regulations under which the ARB now issues final agency
decisions.
2 The ARB
has reviewed the interim decision of the Secretary and the entire
record in this case in rendering this final decision.
3Cf.,
e.g., International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United
States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977); Doll v. Brown, 75 F.3d
1200, 1202 (7th Cir. 1996) (if plaintiff proves that employer
violated law, employer can avoid having to pay damages only by
proving that plaintiff was not made worse off by the
violation); Alexander v. City of Menlo Park, 787 F.2d
1371, 1375 (9th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1032
(1987), citing Nanty v. Barrows Co., 660 F.2d 1327 (9th
Cir. 1981) (where plaintiff proves unlawful discrimination in
hiring or promotion, it is defendant's burden to prove that
plaintiff would not have been hired or promoted absent
discrimination).
4 The
collateral source rule provides that a plaintiff's recovery is
not to be reduced by benefits received for his or her loss from
another source. Craig v. Y & Y Snacks, Inc., 721 F.2d 77,
83 (3d Cir. 1983).
5 We also
note that there is no evidence that the benefits were a
disincentive for Artrip to use reasonable diligence in finding
replacement employment, or that the contributions to the fund
from which the benefits derived were made solely by Ebasco, or
that Artrip would be receiving a double recovery, or any other
reason that might arguably support a ruling in Ebasco's favor.
6 These
figures are based on Artrip's income tax returns, which do not
reflect the precise amount he would have earned during the ten-month period of the thermolag
job. To approximate, the ALJ
reasonably multiplied Artrip's yearly interim earnings by the
decimal .833 (the ratio of ten months to twelve months). R. O.
at 7; O. R. at 1-2.