Montana Code 33-7-307. No personal liability
33-7-307. No personal liability. (1) The officers and members of the supreme governing body or any subordinate body of a society are not personally liable for any benefits provided by a society.
Terms Used In Montana Code 33-7-307
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Society: means a fraternal benefit society described in 33-7-105. See Montana Code 33-7-108
(2)A person may be indemnified and reimbursed by a society for expenses reasonably incurred by and liabilities imposed upon the person in connection with or arising out of an action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative, or threat of a proceeding in which the person may be involved by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the society or of a firm, corporation, or organization that the person served in any capacity at the request of the society.
(3)(a) A person may not be indemnified or reimbursed in relation to any matter in an action, suit, or proceeding:
(i)in which the person is finally found to be guilty of breach of a duty as a director, officer, employee, or agent of the society; or
(ii)that is the subject of a compromise settlement.
(b)A person may be indemnified or reimbursed if the person acted in good faith for a purpose that the person reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the society and, in a criminal action or proceeding, in addition, did not have reasonable cause to believe that the conduct was unlawful.
(4)The determination of whether the person’s conduct met the standard required in order to justify indemnification or reimbursement in relation to any matter described in subsection (3) may be made only by the supreme governing body or board of directors by a majority vote of a quorum consisting of persons who were not parties to the action, suit, or proceeding or by a court of competent jurisdiction. The termination of an action, suit, or proceeding by a judgment, order, settlement, or conviction or upon a plea of no contest, does not create a conclusive presumption that the person did not meet the standard of conduct required in order to justify indemnification or reimbursement. The right of indemnification or reimbursement is not exclusive of other rights to which the person may be entitled as a matter of law, and the right inures to the benefit of the person’s heirs, executors, and administrators.
(5)A director, officer, employee, member, or volunteer of a society who serves without compensation may not be held liable for and a cause of action may not be brought for damages resulting from the exercise of judgment or discretion in connection with the person’s duties or responsibilities for the society unless the act or omission involved willful or wanton misconduct.
(6)A society may purchase and maintain liability insurance for acts incurred in the course and scope of the position for a person who is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the society or who is or was serving at the request of the society as a director, officer, employee, or agent of any other firm, corporation, or organization.