Just one caveat to this. I am a trial lawyer, and often the goal of
litigation is not the result, but the process. All the immunity and legal
protections in place will not ultimately do much good if someone wants to
initiate action. The burden of proof is beside the point. The officers and
directors may eventually be dismissed, but perhaps after thousands of
dollars in legal fees and months or years of judicial process. I don't know
if the immunity laws provide for advancing the payment of legal fees, but
even if they do, it doesn't obviate the time and stress of involvement. The
message is you can never be cavalier when serving in any of these types of
positions. Not to discourage anyone from serving..........................!
D. Klein
Kenwood
> > In Minnesota, Directors of non-profit organizations
who volunteer
> their services (unpaid) are protected by law from being personally liable
> for actions of the non-profit corporation. The only exception to this is
> if it can be proved that the directors acted with 'actual malice' (which
> was defined to me as "you knew it was illegal, but you voted to go ahead
> and do it anyway"). This is quite a tough standard to prove in court;
just
> "sleeping at the wheel" (legally, neglect or malfeasance) would not
qualify.
> This was passed by the Mn Legislature with the specific intent of
> protecting directors of non-profit organizations from any risk of losing
> their house, car, bank account, etc. in a lawsuit over the actions of the
> non-profit corporation. It was done to deal with the problem of
non-profit
> groups like girl scouts, church boards, soccer leagues, etc. having
> difficulty finding people willing to serve as directors when they faced
> this risk of personal liability.
>
> So I think that NRP Boards of Directors are protected by these laws, as
> long as the NRP is a non-profit corporation, and the directors volunteer
> their services, without pay.
>
> >
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