{"jurisdiction": "us-ny", "code": "penal", "section": "20.20", "citation": "Penal Law § 20.20", "heading": "Criminal liability of corporations", "text": ["§ 20.20 Criminal liability of corporations.", "1. As used in this section:", "(a) \"Agent\" means any director, officer or employee of a corporation, or any other person who is authorized to act in behalf of the corporation.", "(b) \"High managerial agent\" means an officer of a corporation or any other agent in a position of comparable authority with respect to the formulation of corporate policy or the supervision in a managerial capacity of subordinate employees.", "2. A corporation is guilty of an offense when:", "(a) The conduct constituting the offense consists of an omission to discharge a specific duty of affirmative performance imposed on corporations by law; or", "(b) The conduct constituting the offense is engaged in, authorized, solicited, requested, commanded, or recklessly tolerated by the board of directors or by a high managerial agent acting within the scope of his employment and in behalf of the corporation; or", "(c) The conduct constituting the offense is engaged in by an agent of the corporation while acting within the scope of his employment and on behalf of the corporation, and the offense is (i) a misdemeanor or a violation, (ii) one defined by a statute which clearly indicates a legislative intent to impose such criminal liability on a corporation, (iii) any offense set forth in title twenty-seven of article seventy-one of the environmental conservation law, or (iv) is in relation to a crime involving the death or serious physical injury of an employee where the corporation acted negligently, recklessly, intentionally, or knowingly."], "official_source": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/20.20", "from_official_api": true, "plain_english": "When a **corporation** is guilty of a crime:\n- **(1)** An **agent** is any director, officer, employee or other person authorized to act for it. A **high managerial agent** is an officer or anyone with similar authority over policy or managerial supervision.\n- **(2)** A corporation is guilty when:\n  - **(a)** it fails to perform a **specific duty the law imposes on corporations**;\n  - **(b)** the conduct is done, authorized, requested, commanded or **recklessly tolerated** by the **board** or a **high managerial agent** acting within the job and for the corporation; ★ or\n  - **(c)** an agent commits it within the job and for the corporation, and the offense is a **misdemeanor or violation**, a statute clearly intends corporate liability, it is an ECL Article 71 Title 27 offense, or it involves the **death or serious physical injury of an employee** where the corporation acted negligently, recklessly, intentionally or knowingly.", "in_force_on": "2026-05-31", "retrieved": "2026-09-27", "url": "https://elyphived.com/us-ny/penal/20.20", "publisher": "Elyphived LLC"}