. Id. at 9-10 (citing NorKei Ventures, LLC v. Butler-Gordon, Inc., 2008 WL 4152775, at *2 (Del. Super. Aug. 28, 2008) (internal citations omitted)).
In Delaware *[a] party has a general duty to mitigate damages if it is feasible to do so." Norkei Ventures, LLC v. Butler-Gordon, Inc., No. 07c-04-623 JAP, 2008 WL 4152775, at *2 (Del. Super. Aug.28, 2008). However, "mitigation only applies to damages occurring after a breach."
Both Delaware and Florida law require a party to a contract harmed by another party's breach to mitigate its damages if possible. See Norkei Ventures, L.L.C. v. Butler-Gordon, Inc., 2008 WL 4152775, at *2 (Del. Super. Ct. Aug. 28, 2008) (stating that in Delaware a "party has a general duty to mitigate damages if it is feasible to do so."); Young v. Cobbs, 110 So.2d 651, 653 (Fla. 1959) (applying Florida law to require a lessee to mitigate damages). It may well be that the Growers' damages should be reduced because of a failure to mitigate - for example if a Grower failed to take advantage of an opportunity to service another chicken integrator. The summary judgment evidence, however, does not include proof of such an opportunity.
[Furthermore, t]he true test is not what the parties to the contract intended it to mean, but what a reasonable person in the position of the parties would have thought it meant." 25 Del. C. § 5101(b); John Petroleum, Inc. v. Parks, 2010 WL 3103391, at *4 (Del. Super. June 4, 2010), affd, 16 A.3d 938 (Del. 2011); NorKei Ventures, LLC v. Butler-Gordon, Inc., 2008 WL 4152775, at *2 (Del. Super. Aug. 28, 2008). NorKei Ventures, 2008 WL 4152775, at *2.
Counts v. Acco Babcock, Inc., 1988 WL 81394, at *2 (Del. 1988) ("The statutory requirement that an injured worker receiving workmen's compensation accept employment within his physical capability is simply a corollary of the rule that an injured party is required to mitigate his damages."). NorKei Ventures, LLC v. Butler-Gordon, Inc., 2008 WL 4152775 (Del. Super. 2008) (citing Highline Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Rooney, 1996 WL 663100 (Del. Super. 1996)).
Minimization of Damage — Under this Lease, both Landlord and Tenant shall faithfully attempt to avoid and minimize damages resulting from the conduct of the other party. [Furthermore, in Delaware "[a] party has a general duty to mitigate damages if it is feasible to do so." Norkei Ventures, LLC v. Butler-Gordon, Inc., 2008 WL 4152775, at *2 (Del. Super. Aug. 28, 2008). "As a general rule, a party cannot recover damages for loss that he could have voided by reasonable efforts."
(Although the commissioner, in a footnote, cites to 25 Del. C. § 5113, a section of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, it is harmless error.)NorKei Ventures, LLC v. Butler-Gordon, Inc., 2008 WL 4152775, at *2 (Del. Super. Aug. 28, 2008) (Parkins, J.) (citing 25 Del. C. § 5101(b)). Generally, "contracts must be construed as a whole, to give effect to the intentions of the parties. Where the contract language is clear and unambiguous, the parties' intent is ascertained by giving the language its ordinary and usual meaning."