Company charged over staff relabeling expiry dates: acquitted twice

Background

Our client is a company selling meat products. Staff altered the expiry dates on products and displayed them for sale, and the company itself was charged under the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act through a joint-liability provision that holds employers responsible for employees' violations. The first-instance court acquitted, and the prosecutor appealed.

The issue

Whether the company had neglected its duty to supervise its staff.

Our approach

Having been acquitted at first instance, our client company contested on appeal the prosecutor's claim that the court had erred in fact by overlooking the company's failure to train and instruct staff.

The court's reasoning

The appeal court found the first-instance findings correct. The mere fact that expired products had been kept rather than discarded since before these employees joined did not show an intention to sell them. Given how the violation was detected, the company also could not be expected to have foreseen and guarded against staff deliberately changing the labels on products meant for disposal.

Outcome

The appeal court dismissed the prosecutor's appeal, and the company's acquittal stood.

What this case means

Even where a company is prosecuted for an employee's violation under a joint-liability provision, the outcome depends on whether the company could have foreseen and prevented it.

This is the outcome of an individual case and does not guarantee the same result in similar matters. Some facts have been generalized to protect the parties involved.