(a) In discharging the duties of the position of director of a for-profit benefit corporation, a director shall consider the effects of any contemplated, proposed, or actual transaction or other conduct on the interests of those materially affected by the corporation’s conduct, including the pecuniary interests of shareholders, and the public benefit or public benefits identified in its charter and shall not give regular, presumptive, or permanent priority to the interests of any individual constituency or limited group of constituencies materially affected by the corporation’s conduct, including the pecuniary interests of shareholders.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 48-28-106

  • Charter: includes amended and restated charters and articles of merger. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • 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.
  • For-profit benefit corporation: means a domestic business corporation organized under and subject to the Tennessee Business Corporation Act, compiled in chapters 11-27 of this title that intends to pursue a public benefit or public benefits. See Tennessee Code 48-28-103
  • Individual: includes the estate of an incompetent or deceased individual. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Interest: means either or both of the following rights under the organic law of an unincorporated entity:
    (A) The right to receive distributions from the entity either in the ordinary course or upon liquidation. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Person: includes individual and entity. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Public benefit: means a positive effect or reduction of negative effects on one (1) or more categories of persons, entities, communities, or interests, other than shareholders in their capacities as shareholders, including, but not limited to, an artistic, charitable, cultural, economic, educational, environmental, literary, medical, religious, scientific, or technological effect. See Tennessee Code 48-28-103
  • Public benefit provisions: means the provisions of a charter as described in §. See Tennessee Code 48-28-103
(b) A director of a for-profit benefit corporation shall not, by virtue of the public benefit provisions authorized by § 48-28-104(d), have any duty to any person on account of any interest of such person in the public benefit or public benefits identified in the charter. A director who performs the duties of a director stated in subsection (a) is not liable by reason of being or having been a director of a for-profit benefit corporation under § 48-18-301.
(c) The charter of a for-profit benefit corporation may include a provision that any disinterested failure to satisfy this section shall not, for the purposes of §§ 48-18-301 and 48-18-302 or §§ 48-18-501” 48-18-509, constitute an act or omission not in good faith, or a breach of the duty of loyalty.
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