(a) The officers and members of the supreme governing body or any subordinate body of a society shall not be personally liable for any benefits provided by a society.
lawyer at desk

Ask a business law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified business lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 432:2-203

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
(b) Any person may be indemnified and reimbursed by any society for expenses reasonably incurred by, and liabilities imposed upon, such person in connection with or arising out of any action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative, or threat thereof, 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 any firm, corporation, or organization that the person served in any capacity at the request of the society. A person shall not be so indemnified or reimbursed:

(1) In relation to any matter in such action, suit, or proceeding as to which the person shall finally be adjudged to be or have been guilty of breach of a duty as a director, officer, employee, or agent of the society; or
(2) In relation to any matter in such action, suit, or proceeding, or threat thereof, which has been made the subject of a compromise settlement;

unless in either such case the person acted in good faith for a purpose 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, had no reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

The determination whether the conduct of such person met the standard required to justify indemnification and reimbursement in relation to any matter described in paragraph (1) or (2) may only be made by the supreme governing body or board of directors by a majority vote of a quorum consisting of persons who were not parties to such action, suit, or proceeding, or by a court of competent jurisdiction. The termination of any action, suit, or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, or conviction, or upon a plea of no contest, as to such person shall not in itself create a conclusive presumption that the person did not meet the standard of conduct required to justify indemnification and reimbursement. The foregoing right of indemnification and reimbursement shall not be exclusive of other rights to which such person may be entitled as a matter of law and shall inure to the benefit of the person’s heirs and personal representatives.

(c) A society shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any 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 against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by the person in any such capacity or arising out of the person’s status as such, whether or not the society would have the power to indemnify the person against such liability under this section.

  Previous
Next  
 Part II Contents