(a) In discharging the duties of their respective positions and in considering the best interests of the benefit corporation, the board of directors, committees of the board, and individual directors of a benefit corporation:
(1) Shall consider the effects of any action upon:
(A) The shareholders of the benefit corporation;
(B) The employees and work force of the benefit corporation, its subsidiaries, and its suppliers;
(C) The interests of customers as beneficiaries of the general public benefit or specific public benefit purposes of the benefit corporation;
(D) Community and societal factors, including those of each community in which offices or facilities of the benefit corporation, its subsidiaries, or its suppliers are located;
(E) The local and global environment;
(F) The short-term and long-term interests of the benefit corporation, including benefits that may accrue to the benefit corporation from its long-term plans and the possibility that these interests may be best served by the continued independence of the benefit corporation; and
(G) The ability of the benefit corporation to accomplish its general public benefit purpose and any specific public benefit purpose;
(2) May consider other pertinent factors or the interests of any other group that they deem appropriate; and
(3) Need not give priority to the interests of a particular person or group referenced in paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection over the interests of any other person or group, unless the benefit corporation has stated in its articles of incorporation its intention to give priority to certain interests related to its accomplishment of its general public benefit purpose or of a specific public benefit purpose identified in its articles of incorporation.
(b) The consideration of interests and factors in the manner required by subsection (a) of this section does not constitute a violation of § 29-306.30.
(c) A director is not personally liable for monetary damages for:
(1) Any action taken as a director if the director performed the duties of office in compliance with § 29-306.30 and this section; or
(2) Failure of the benefit corporation to create general public benefit or specific public benefit.
(d) A director does not have a duty to a person that is a beneficiary of the general public benefit purpose or a specific public benefit purpose of a benefit corporation arising from the status of the person as a beneficiary.
(May 1, 2013, D.C. Law 19-305, § 2(b), 60 DCR 2735.)
This section is referenced in § 29-1301.02, § 29-1303.02, and § 29-1303.03.