The following excerpt is from Brock v. Shirk, 833 F.2d 1326 (9th Cir. 1987):
if, and only if, the employer shows that he acted in good faith and that he had reasonable grounds for believing that he was not violating the Act.... [B]efore the district court's discretion may be invoked, the employer has the plain and substantial burden of persuading the court by proof that his failure to obey the statute was both in good faith and predicated upon such reasonable grounds that it would be unfair to impose upon him more than a compensatory verdict.
Marshall v. Brunner, 668 F.2d 748, 753 (3rd Cir.1982) (emphasis in original) (citations and footnote omitted).
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