Under the doctrine of vicarious liability, corporate leadership is sometimes responsible for the criminal activity of those who serve under them.
Assume that a corporation decides to dump tons of hazardous materials from their waste products into the local waterway. The dumping violates all laws and administrative agency standards and is done negligently. Eventually, after a series of unexplained deaths and lingering illnesses in the local community, the company's actions are discovered.
Who is liable?
Is it the workers who secretly dumped the hazardous waste into the river?
Is it the supervisors and managers of the employees who did the dumping?
Or should liability be imposed on the corporate officers or even the president of the company?