What is the legal definition of misfeasance?
Asked by: Pedro Jones | Last update: October 12, 2025Score: 5/5 (60 votes)
In a legal context, “misfeasance” refers to the improper performance of a lawful act, resulting in harm or injury to another person or entity .
What is an example of a misfeasance?
Misfeasance is the unintentional act of causing harm while performing a legal act or responsibility. For example, a police officer sees an escalating altercation but decides to call another officer to respond. This is misfeasance because it is the protocol for the closest officer to respond to the scene.
What is the difference between misfeasance and malfeasance?
What Is Misfeasance? Misfeasance is the act of engaging in an action or duty but failing to perform the duty correctly. Misfeasance refers to an action that is unintentional. However, malfeasance is the willful and intentional act of doing harm.
What is the meaning of misfeasance?
misfeasance. noun. mis·fea·sance mis-ˈfēz-ᵊns. : the performance of a lawful action in an illegal or improper manner. specifically : the performance of an official duty in an improper or unlawful manner or with an improper or corrupt motive compare malfeasance, nonfeasance.
What is the liability for misfeasance?
Liability for Misfeasance:
If an auditor does something wrongfully in the performance of his duties resulting in a financial loss to the company, he is guilty of misfeasance. In such a case, the company can recover damages from the auditor or from any officer for breach of trust or misfeasance of the company.
Malfeasance, Misfeasance, and Nonfeasance defined - what is the difference? Why does it matter?
What is the legal concept of misfeasance?
In a legal context, “misfeasance” refers to the improper performance of a lawful act, resulting in harm or injury to another person or entity .
Can you sue for malfeasance?
Malfeasance is an act of outright sabotage in which one party to a contract commits an act that causes intentional damage. A party that incurs damages by malfeasance is entitled to settlement through a civil lawsuit. Proving malfeasance in a court of law is often difficult, as the true definition is rarely agreed upon.
How to prove malfeasance?
In order to prove malfeasance, a prosecutor must show that the public official or employee acted with the intent to do something unlawful. In many cases, circumstantial evidence or witness testimony is used to establish intent.
What does guilty of misfeasance mean?
Misfeasance is a serious claim that can be held against company directors that are experiencing insolvency and may be found guilty of breaching their fiduciary duties. If there is evidence that a company director has acted inappropriately with company money, they can be taken to Court and charged with misfeasance.
What is a misfeasance claim?
What is misfeasance? Misfeasance is a wide catch-all claim in which a director or 'officer' can be penalised for general wrongdoing within the company.
What is willful misfeasance?
Definition and relevant rules of law
Misfeasance is the willful inappropriate action or intentional incorrect action or advice. Malfeasance is the willful and intentional action that injures a party.
What is the legal term for failure to act?
nonfeasance. The omission to perform a required duty or the failure to act when a duty to act existed. Nonfeasance can more loosely be defined as “not doing something which you ought to do.” The term “nonfeasance” commonly appears in the areas of contract and tort law.
What does misfeasance translate to?
One way to define misfeasance is "the wrongful exercise of lawful authority." In other words, the power or authority is legal and fair, but the way it's being used is harmful.
What is misfeasance in Black's law Dictionary?
Rep. 253. Misfeasance, strictly, is not doing a lawful act in a proper manner, omitting to do it as it should be done; while malfeasance is the doing an act wholly wrongful; and non- feasance is an omission to perform a duty, or a total neglect of duty.
What is the penalty for malfeasance?
The potential legal consequences of malfeasance are jail sentences, fines, or loss of employment. Examples of malfeasance are: Using company funds to buy items for personal use.
What is the difference between negligence and misfeasance?
Some distinguish recklessness from negligence; recklessness is a 'malfeasance' that increases the danger of an act occurring; whereas criminal negligence is a 'misfeasance or 'nonfeasance,'merely allowing otherwise avoidable dangers to manifest.
Which is worse misfeasance or malfeasance?
Intentional Wrongdoing and Criminal Law
Unlike misfeasance, which refers to negligent conduct, malfeasance requires a deliberate intent to cause harm or break the law. As such, acts of malfeasance can intersect with criminal law when they involve criminal intent and serious breaches of legal or fiduciary duty.
What is an example of a misfeasance situation?
Misfeasance: Misfeasance is the execution of an act that, though legal, is questionable and causes harm. For example, a married person has a five-month affair with someone they met at a bar. Malfeasance: Malfeasance is the committing of an illegal or improper act that causes harm or injury.
What is a sentence for misfeasance?
If a highway authority carries out some repairs and does them badly, that is misfeasance and the authority can be sued. I am not concerned only with criminal acts or misfeasance but with inefficiency and improper expenditure that falls short of criminality or provable criminality.
Can you sue someone for deception?
In California, there are laws to help victims that have been defrauded to recover damages for any type of intentional fraud or negligent representation. Certain legal elements and specific facts must be alleged with particularity in a civil complaint.
What is an act of negligence?
Negligence is the failure to behave with the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances.
How to prove intent to deceive?
Fraudulent intent is shown if a representation is made with reckless indifference to its truth or falsity.” Intent can be reasoned from statements, conduct, victim testimony, and complaint letters, all of which can help demonstrate that the perpetrator knew that victims were being misled.
Can you sue someone for being unethical?
Whether an act is oppressive, immoral, unscrupulous, injurious, or unethical, you may have legal options to get justice. These cases are part of business torts. Business torts involve misleading ads, fraud, misrepresentation, overcharging customers, or defaming another business's services or products.
How to get malfeasance?
In order to unlock and get the Malfeasance, you'll need to obtain the Exotic Weapon Quest from Gambit matches. When you summon your Primeval, an Ascendant Primeval Servitor could randomly summon instead of the other usual Primevals. A Seething Heart quest drops after killing the Servitor.
Is sabotaging a company illegal?
It is illegal for a person to sabotage a business and may face civil and criminal liability. The saboteur can be an employee, business partner, or competitor.