Stewart v. Scheinert

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.

Section 51 of the General Municipal Law provides for personal liability of public officials who commit illegal acts in their official capacities "by collusion or otherwise”. We agree *828with the Appellate Division that under this statute personal liability arises only if the illegal acts were collusive, fraudulent, or motivated by personal gain (Daly v Haight, 170 App Div 469, affd 224 NY 726). Since there is no evidence in the record that the conduct of the defendant county legislators was of the…