Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Are Supervisors of Notaries Criminal liable for the criminal acts of the notaries they supervise?

US vs Park, 421 U.S. 658 (1975) http://supreme.justia.com/us/421/658/ held that supervisor of a lower echelon employee could be held liable for the criminal misconduct of the employee if the supervisor did not take corrective action once the supervisor discovered the misconduct. The decision only applies to criminal actions,not civil matters. Clearly supervisor of notaries need to be watchful of their notaries.However,this would also apply to a school district executive who failed to take corrective action once embezzlement was discovered by the executive. A Principal who discovers an Assistant Principal engaged in obstruction of justice or witness tampering would required to take corrective action to avoid criminal prosecution. Once state prosecutor discover this decision they could turn into pit bulls with law licenses when they are dealing with criminal misconduct of notaries and their supervisors who failed to take corrective actions of the criminal misconduct of the notaries they supervise!!!!
The VA Notebook says the following:
Liability of the Notary’s Employer
The employer of a notary may be civilly or criminally liable for certain acts.
The employer may be liable for damages caused by the notary’s official misconduct if:
The misconduct was performed as part of the notary’s employment
The employer knew about the misconduct, or should have known about it
Any employer who encourages, threatens, or otherwise intentionally causes an employee to violate the notary laws may be found guilty of a misdemeanor.

No comments: