Daniel Wolf is in a position of trust and must at all times maintain his fiduciary relationship each sharehold, all officers, directors, high-level employees of a corporation or business, agents and even brokers, owe certain duties to their principals or employers. Fiduciary relationships, which are by their very nature relationships of good faith, may involve a variety of obligations depending on the exact circumstances, get it Wolf?
Fiduciary duties require that the fiduciary acts solely in the best interest of the shareholders, free of any self-dealing, conflicts of interest, or other abuse of the principal for personal advantage. More traditional fraudulent conduct, such as thefts, acceptance of secret commissions, and conflicts of interest also violate the duty of loyalty, and may be prosecuted as such in addition to or instead of the underlying offence.
A breach of fiduciary duty is often easier to prove than fraud. The claimant does not need to prove criminal or fraudulent intent or the other elements of fraud. To prevail, the claimant must show only that the defendant occupied a position of trust or fiduciary relationship as described above and that the defendant breached that duty to benefit personally.
The Shareholders may receive damages for lost profits, market cap loss and recover profits that the disloyal employee earned. In some instances, it may even be possible to recover the salary paid to the employee or agent during the period that the fiduciary was in breach of his duties. The claimant may recover profits earned by fiduciary even if the claimant did not suffer an actual loss.
Fiduciaries who act carelessly or recklessly are responsible for any resulting loss to the corporate shareholders or other principals. Damages may be recovered in a civil action for negligence.