Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I think of supervising as a form of participation, but I understand what you mean. Yes, the broker can be personally liable, as can the corporation. Brokers and agents owe duties arising out of statutes (see, for example, Civil Code sections 2079 to 2079.24) as well as arising under the common law, and the duties may be owned to third persons as well as to clients. See Easton v. Strassburger (1984) 152 Cal.App.3d 90. Breach of a duty will give rise to civil liability. A broker's liability may be based upon breach of contract, tort (negligence or fraud, for example) or both. A broker's liability for the acts of his or her salespeople arises out of the notion of "respondeat superior" essentially meaning that the boss is responsible for the goofs of the underlings, or on the law of agency.

A broker's personal liability is not absolute and unlimited, and must be established in each case, but there will usually be some theory upon which the broker can be held accountable if the transaction itself gives rise to liability by the firm, or an employee of the firm.