United States v. Park

United States v. Park
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 18-19, 1975 Decided June 9, 1975
Full case name	United States v. Park
Docket nos.	74-215
Citations	421 U.S. 658 (more)
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William O. Douglas · William J. Brennan, Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell, Jr. · William Rehnquist
Case opinions
Majority	Burger, joined by Douglas, Brennan, White, Blackmun, Rehnquist
Dissent	Stewart, joined by Marshall, Powell

United States v. Park, 421 U.S. 658 (1975).

This is an important case where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was able to pierce the corporate veil. The defendant, Park, was the CEO of Acme International. Park had failed to comply with a mandate from the FDA, under the Federal Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act, to keep conditions within his warehouses legally sanitary.

In the case, the Court found Park strictly liable for the unsanitary conditions that his company had created, arguing for strict liability under the rationale that the Federal Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act was a 'public welfare' statute. The Court concluded that as a welfare statute, the purpose was to prevent egregious social harm; therefore, the Defendant could be held strictly liable for the crime.

The Court held that if someone were to willingly be in charge of a company, and therefore its problems, then he or she willingly accepts the consequences of any illegal practices that his or her company or organization is involved in. An exception is made if the problem is impossible to fix.

References

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