DOJ Targeting Employees for Criminal Environmental Prosecution: Tips for Minimizing Exposure
Posted by [email protected] on Dec. 20, 2021
The top U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environmental official has put corporate employees on notice that DOJ is increasing its focus on prosecuting individuals for environmental crimes, including the threat of jail time. In a pre-recorded keynote address to the American Bar Association (ABA) National Environmental Enforcement Conference on December 14, 2021, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) Todd Kim stated, “Only individuals can go to jail, and we have found that criminal corporate accountability starts with accountability for individuals responsible for criminal conduct.”
Kim’s remarks are consistent with DOJ’s intent to prioritize criminal prosecutions of individuals for a variety of corporate crimes, as Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco explained in an October address to the ABA 36th Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime. Kim also suggested that DOJ would not restrict itself to environmental statutes when pursuing criminal environmental enforcement. Rather, employees could face charges such as fraud, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in connection with environmental cases.
The federal government has a long history of prosecuting crimes in environmental cases. DOJ views these cases as an indispensable arrow in its quiver. As Kim explains, “Vigorous and robust enforcement is necessary to ensure appropriate deterrence and thereby protect the public health and the environment, as well as create a level playing field for businesses that obey the law.” Continue Reading
By Francis X. Lyons & Andrew N. Sawula on December 16, 2021 and shared with permission from Schiff Hardin Energy & Environmental Law Advisor
