Malicious compliance is the behaviour of intentionally inflicting harm by strictly following the orders of a superior knowing that compliance with the orders will not have the intended result. The term usually implies the following of an order in such a way that ignores the order's intent but follows it to the letter.
For example, when a group of firefighters were ordered by management to wear the unwanted self-contained breathing apparatus that they were being issued with for safety reasons, they took to wearing the equipment on their backs while ignoring it and breathing normally. This made...