Section 16.6 Declaration of Agent or Employee

• Library: Evidence 2017

A. (§16.6) Declaration of Agent or Employee

A corporation can only act through its agents. The statement of a corporate agent is an admission of a party-opponent when the statement is made while the agent is acting within the scope of the agent’s authority. The Federal Rules of Evidence describe this as the statement of a “party in an individual or representative capacity.” Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(A). Bynote v. Nat’l Super Mkts., Inc., 891 S.W.2d 117, 124 (Mo. banc 1995). Before Bynote, some cases allowed only statements made by an agent or employee who was acting in an executive capacity to be considered corporate admissions. Id. at 123–24 (discussing the history of corporate admissions). SeeCox v. Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Inc., 473 S.W.3d 107, 126 (Mo. banc 2015) (rejecting an argument that the statement was made “outside” of the employee’s authority). The Court in Cox noted that “a company executive generally ‘has broad authority to bind the principal by his or her statements.’” Id. at 126 (quoting Bynote, 891 S.W.2d at 124).

Obviously, statements made by corporate executives would usually be considered admissions of the corporation. But to limit corporate admissions only to executives made no sense because the actions of any corporate agent or employee could be binding on the corporation if taken while...