Roscoe

The responsible corporate officer doctrine was developed by the United States Supreme Court to hold corporate officers in responsible positions of authority personally liable for violating strict liability statutes protecting the public welfare. (Hustis & Gotanda, The Responsible Corporate Officer: Designated Felon or Legal Fiction? (1994) 25 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 169 , 176, citing United States v. Dotterweich (1943) 320 U.S. 277 [ 88 L.Ed. 48 , 64 S.Ct. 134 ] (Dotterweich); and United States v. Park (1975) 421 U.S. 658 [ 44 L.Ed.2d 489 , 95 S.Ct. 1903 ] (Park).) It is a common law theory of liability separate from piercing the corporate veil or imposing personal liability for direct participation in tortious conduct. (Celentano v. Rocque (2007) 282 Conn. 645 [ 923 A.2d 709, 721, fn. 11 ].)

The trial court here used the responsible corporate officer doctrine to impose $2,493,250 in monetary civil penalties on two individuals (defendants John F. Roscoe and Ned F. Roscoe; hereafter the Roscoes) who were officers, directors, and shareholders of a family company for an underground storage tank that leaked over 3,000 gallons of gasoline into the ground. The family company that…