This is a fairly narrow point, but "authority" means government in this context! Private businesses -- whatever their attitude toward criminal behavior by their employees -- do not have authority over the general public. For the most part, we can choose whether or not to do business with a company (although obviously exceptions exist, like public utilities). The same is not true of the government; we are forced to deal with it.

That reminds me of a related story. When I was a Federal official during the Reagan administration, the Commissioner of Social Security insisted on describing the people who came to our offices as "customers." I argued that, at least in my view, customers are people who patronize a business voluntarily and that these people had no choice but to deal with us (if they wanted to receive their benefits!). We never did agree on this.

Bruce