What is the official malfeasance?
Asked by: Alene Feeney | Last update: February 1, 2026Score: 4.2/5 (28 votes)
Official malfeasance is the intentional commission of an unlawful or wrongful act by a public official while performing their duties, going beyond mere negligence to involve a deliberate abuse of authority, such as bribery, fraud, or tampering with evidence, often leading to criminal charges, removal from office, and civil penalties. It's a serious breach of public trust, distinct from misfeasance (improperly doing a lawful act) or nonfeasance (failing to do a required duty).
What is the legal definition of malfeasance?
Malfeasance is an act that is illegal and causes physical or monetary harm to someone else. Malfeasance is intentional conduct that is wrongful or unlawful, especially by officials or public employees.
How is malfeasance proven in court?
Proven malfeasance can result in civil liability, criminal penalties, or regulatory sanctions, depending on the circumstances. Establishing malfeasance requires evidence of intentional misconduct, making such cases complex and resource-intensive.
What is a professional malfeasance?
Intentionally doing something that is illegal. This term is often used when a professional or public official commits an illegal act that interferes with the performance of his or her duties. For example, an elected official who accepts a bribe in exchange for political favors has committed malfeasance.
What are some examples of malfeasance?
Malfeasance involves a deliberate act that is legally and morally wrong. For example, an employee embezzling funds from a company or a public official abusing their power for personal gain would be considered malfeasance. In both cases, the individual is intentionally engaging in illegal behavior.
What Is An Example Of Malfeasance? - CountyOffice.org
Is malfeasance hard to prove in court?
At times, malfeasance can be difficult to prove in court due to its nature as an intentional act. In order to prove malfeasance, a prosecutor must show that the public official or employee acted with the intent to do something unlawful.
What is the most common complaint against police officers?
The most common complaint against police is excessive force, involving physical abuse or restraint beyond what's necessary, often linked with racial profiling and unlawful stops or arrests, with other frequent issues including dishonesty, sexual misconduct, and abuse of power. These allegations highlight a significant gap in community trust, often leading to civil rights violations and calls for greater accountability and reform, notes.
Can you sue for malfeasance?
Malfeasance is a broad term for an act that is illegal and causes physical or financial harm to another individual. This illegal act can be tried in criminal and civil court. Under tort law, malfeasance has legal repercussions in civil court, and the plaintiff can sue the defendant for monetary damages.
What are 5 examples of serious misconduct?
Here are 7 examples classed as workplace misconduct
- Theft. This may sound obvious, but theft isn't limited to financial fraud like embezzlement or money laundering. ...
- Sexual harassment. ...
- Abuse of power. ...
- Falsifying documentation. ...
- Health and safety breaches. ...
- Damage to goods or property. ...
- Drug and/or alcohol use.
What qualifies as being fired for misconduct?
Behavior defined as gross misconduct, such as theft, fraud, severe harassment, violence, or serious safety violations, typically results in immediate termination. An employee's failure to stop lesser misconduct over time may also result in dismissal as the final stage of a progressive disciplinary action plan.
What is the hardest thing to prove in court?
The hardest things to prove in court involve intent, causation (especially in medical cases where multiple factors exist), proving insanity, and overcoming the lack of physical evidence or uncooperative victims, often seen in sexual assault or domestic violence cases. Proving another person's mental state or linking a specific harm directly to negligence, rather than underlying conditions, requires strong expert testimony and overcoming common doubts.
What are four types of prosecutorial misconduct?
Prosecutors can engage in prosecutorial misconduct in four different ways:
- Offering evidence they know to be false or inadmissible (including encouraging witnesses to lie on the stand)
- Keeping exculpatory evidence (that could help clear the defendant of the charges) hidden from the defense.
- Using improper arguments.
How to win against false allegations?
To fight false allegations, immediately hire an experienced lawyer, stay silent with law enforcement and the accuser, gather all evidence (texts, records, witnesses) to support your innocence, document everything, and avoid social media discussions to build a strong defense and challenge the accuser's credibility. Your attorney will help create a strategy, challenge evidence, and potentially counter-sue for defamation, focusing on facts to prove your side.
Is malfeasance a felony?
Yes, malfeasance, particularly "malfeasance in office," is often a serious crime, frequently classified as a felony, involving intentional illegal acts by public officials, leading to potential job loss, fines, and imprisonment, though specific charges and severity vary by jurisdiction. It's distinguished from simple negligence because it involves a knowing, wrongful, or unlawful action by someone in a position of trust, unlike misfeasance (careless lawful acts) or nonfeasance (failure to act).
What is another word for malfeasance?
Common synonyms for malfeasance, which means wrongdoing or misconduct, especially by a public official, include misconduct, wrongdoing, crime, misbehavior, misdeed, malpractice, transgression, and impropriety, all pointing to illegal or improper actions.
What is the legal term for intentional wrongdoing?
intentional tort. An intentional tort is a type of tort that can only result from an intentional act of the defendant. Depending on the exact tort alleged, either general or specific intent will need to be proven.
What are HR trigger words?
HR trigger words are terms that alert Human Resources to potential policy violations, serious workplace issues like harassment, discrimination, bullying, retaliation, or a hostile work environment, and significant risks like lawsuits, high turnover, or burnout, prompting investigation or intervention, while other buzzwords like "quiet quitting" signal cultural trends. Using them signals a serious concern requiring HR's immediate attention for compliance and employee safety, though overly negative or absolute language can also be flagged.
What behaviors constitute misconduct?
Conduct that threatens or endangers the health or safety of self or others, including, but not limited to, acts such as physical abuse, verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, stalking, sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and coercion.
What are 5 fair reasons for dismissal?
The five fair reasons for dismissal under UK employment law are Conduct, Capability/Qualifications, Redundancy, Breach of a Statutory Duty/Restriction, and Some Other Substantial Reason (SOSR), each requiring a fair process, like investigation, warnings, and consultation, to avoid unfair dismissal claims. These reasons cover employee behavior, inability to do the job (skill/health), role elimination, legal constraints, and other significant business needs.
Can I press charges for false accusations?
While you can't directly "press charges" as a private citizen (only police/prosecutors can), you can report false accusations to law enforcement, who may file criminal charges, and you can file your own civil lawsuits for damages like defamation (libel/slander), malicious prosecution, or intentional infliction of emotional distress, especially if the accuser acted with malice and caused you harm. If the false accusation leads to criminal charges against you, you'll need a criminal defense attorney to fight those, and potentially sue the accuser for malicious prosecution once cleared.
What is the most common complaint brought against lawyers?
The most common complaints against lawyers center on neglect, lack of communication (unreturned calls/emails, no updates), and fee issues (excessive, unclear, or improper billing), often stemming from poor client management and unmet expectations. Clients frequently feel uninformed, ignored, or surprised by costs, leading to formal grievances about missed deadlines, lack of transparency, or attorneys failing to act in the client's best interest, says Lalegalethics.org and ABA Journal.
What are the 4 things to prove negligence?
The four essential elements of a negligence claim are Duty, Breach, Causation, and Damages, meaning the defendant owed a legal duty of care to the plaintiff, failed to meet that standard (breach), that failure directly caused harm (causation), and the plaintiff suffered actual, measurable losses (damages). To win a negligence case, the injured party (plaintiff) must prove all four elements to show the other party (defendant) was legally at fault for their injuries.
What does 12 mean for cops?
"12" is slang for police, originating from the police radio code 10-12 ("visitors present," meaning civilians nearby), which became a shorthand warning, and possibly influenced by the TV show Adam-12, used in hip-hop and urban culture to mean cops are around or to be wary of law enforcement. It's used in contexts ranging from casual conversation to cautionary warnings like "Watch out for the 12" or "Fuck 12".
Can I legally cuss out a cop?
It's generally not illegal to curse at a police officer in the U.S. because of First Amendment protections for free speech, but it can lead to arrest if the language crosses into "fighting words," threats, or disrupts public order, potentially resulting in charges like disorderly conduct or resisting arrest, depending on state laws and the officer's interpretation of the situation. While cursing alone is usually protected, actions like shaking fists, spitting, or making threats can remove that protection and lead to criminal charges.
What is the Bane Act?
The Bane Act (California Civil Code § 52.1.), also known as the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, is a civil code in California Law that forbids people from interfering with a person's constitutional rights by force or threat of violence.