Misfeasance Can Cause Personal Injuries

Has a driver made a mistake and caused a car accident and injuries to you? Has a contractor ever not put something away after completing a job, causing a child to get hurt in your home? These are two examples of misfeasance, more commonly known as negligence.

If you believe that you have a personal injury case involving misfeasance, contact the Kansas personal injury attorney at Pyle Law to learn how you can protect your rights.

What is Misfeasance?

Misfeasance is a term used in tort law that describes the act of completing a task in a legal manner, but still breaching a duty of care that harms another.

For example, if a janitor washes the floor but fails to put out a “slippery when wet” sign, then he would be guilty of misfeasance if someone slipped and fell. Negligence is often at the root of misfeasance, resulting in a person not showing the usual care they would in completing a task.

Note that certain occupations have established standards of reasonable care. Drivers are expected to operate their vehicles with care in order to not harm others on the road, while cleaning staff are expected to warn building users of dangerous conditions after cleaning the floors.

How is Negligence Determined in Misfeasance Cases?

In order for a plaintiff to show that the defendant was negligent, four elements must be present:

• Duty of care: the law requires society to act with “reasonable care” toward others; reasonable care is defined as behaving in the same way that a reasonable person would in a similar situation
• Breach of duty: the plaintiff must prove that the defendant did not meet the duty of care
• Causation: the plaintiff must prove that their injuries are a direct result of the defendant breaching the duty of care owed to them
• Damages: the plaintiff has suffered actual harm from the defendant’s lack of reasonable care

More on Causation

In negligence cases, causation is fulfilled when the defendant’s actions cause foreseeable consequences, resulting in the plaintiff’s injuries. This is known as proximate or “legal cause.”

*Let’s examine a scenario: Harry shoots Mark in the arm, and the paramedics who arrive administer the wrong medication, and Mark dies. In this situation, Harry is not the “legal cause” of Mark’s death.

Nonetheless, Harry would be the factual cause of Mark’s death since, if he never shot him, Mark would not have died. However, the paramedics are the proximate cause or “legal cause” of Mark’s death, since they gave him the medication that ultimately ended his life. In this scenario, an intervening cause (the paramedics) partially takes away the blame from the person who set the events in motion.

In misfeasance cases, the person who sets the events into motion must have caused the resulting harm to the victim in order to be held legally responsible.

How Long Do You Have to File a Misfeasance Claim?

In Kansas, you have two years to file a misfeasance or personal injury-related claim. This is known as a statute of limitations, and it is the time frame allowed for filing a lawsuit. After the two years have passed since the date of the incident, your case will not be heard by a judge. This time limitation is put into place since evidence can be lost, and eyewitnesses may not remember events as clearly after a lengthy period of time has passed.

A Kansas Personal Injury Attorney Fighting for You

Attorney Tom Pyle at Pyle Law has 26 years of experience representing victims like you. We can build a case that showcases the other party’s carelessness. If your case requires litigation, you will see that our strength lies in the courtroom. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to learn more.