Are the Corporation and Its Employees the Same?: Piercing the Intracorporate Conspiracy Doctrine in a Post-Enron World
Warner, David · Kansas Law Review · 2007
In recent years, the United States has seen numerous corporate scandals.Names like Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Anderson, and Adelphia leave a bad taste in the mouths of investors, creditors, and employees alike.In response to the large number of accounting and securities frauds, the government enacted policies to curb the questionable business practices occurring in corporate America.Legislation like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has increased accountability for corporate agents and deterred illegal business activity.'At the same time, earlier legislation that had an intended purpose of targeting this type of white-collar crime, such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), is limited in its application in these scenarios.2 One of the limitations of RICO is the intracorporate conspiracy doctrine.This doctrine bars a plaintiff from bringing a conspiracy claim against a corporation and its agents if the agent is acting within the scope of her employment or authority.3 The agent and the corporation are considered to be the same entity, thus negating an essential element of a conspiracy claim, the multiplicity of actors.4 Therefore, actions of the agent or employee are attributed to the corporation, and the corporation cannot conspire with itself.5