Principal-Agency Liability

If a principal-agent relationship exists, it can have a tremendous impact on a potential lawsuit. “Agency is the fiduciary relationship resulting from the manifestation of consent by an agent to a principal that the agent will act on the principal’s behalf and subject to his or her control.” Cent. Trust and Inv. Co. v. Signalpoint Asset Mgmt, LLC, 442 S.W.3d 312, 323 (Mo. 2014). The principal must have the “right to control” the agent. Id. 

When determining whether a principal-agent relationship exists, the Court reviews words a conduct; a contract, express appointment, or intention to create the legal relationship is unnecessary. Bach v. Winfield-Foley Fire Prot. Dist., 257 S.W.3d 605, 608 (Mo. 2008). And,  in the context of liability, “the wrongful acts of an agent can generally be imputed to the principal.” Price v. Thompson, 616 S.W.3d 301, 309 (Mo. App. W.D. 2020).

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