Opinion ID: 2622963
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Licensing Statute

Text: The nature of a licensee's exposure to a civil, penalty under AS 43.70.075(d) is not obvious. The superior court appears to have characterized it as strict liability. Comparing AS 43.70.075 to our holding in Alesna v. LeGrue, [9] the superior court determined that AS 43.70.075 imposes strict liability on employers for the sale of tobacco to minors by employees acting in the scope of employment. On appeal, as it did below, the state seems to characterize the statute as imposing vicarious liability, arguing that AS 43.70.075 imposes vicarious liability for mandatory penalties on the retailer based on its employee's illegal acts. According to the state, imposing vicarious liability under this statute is consistent with how other jurisdictions have regulated licensees who sell or distribute dangerous products. Godfrey, observing that the statute does not impute the employee's acts to the licensee or state that the licensee is strictly liable, characterizes it as unique because it deprives him of property based entirely on a third person's criminal conviction. It is not necessary in this case to distinguish precisely between the possible theories of civil liability for violations based on a conviction of the licensee's employee. The initial question is whether the state has the power to impose such a penalty without giving the license holder an opportunity to dispute the criminal fault of the employee who has been convicted of negligently selling tobacco to a minor. The statute, AS 43.70.075, does not specify a theory of liability. It simply provides that licensing action is to be taken if the licensee's employee was acting within the scope of employment and was convicted under AS 11.76.100. Alaska Stat-43.70.075(m) permits the licensee to dispute whether the employee was acting within the scope of employment and whether there was a conviction; nothing in section .075 implicitly or explicitly makes the issue of the employee's negligence material in the licensing proceeding; only the employee's conviction and employment status are relevant. The text of subsection .075(m)(1) makes it immaterial whether the conviction was by plea or judicial finding. [10] Alaska Statute 43.70.075 simply requires proof of conviction, and does not require, or provide for, a de novo trial or retrial regarding the employee's negligence. It is true that there must be a finding of negligence for a conviction under AS 11.76.100(a)(1) based on a judicial finding. But a conviction under AS 11.76.100(a)(1) can alternatively be based on a guilty plea or a plea of nolo contendere. Alaska Statute 43.70.075(m)(1) authorizes licensing penalties even if the conviction is based on a plea, and not on a judicial finding. Thus, the question here is essentially whether due process requires that the license holder be allowed in the licensing proceeding to challenge the employee's criminal fault.