Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 97-13 (1997) · Duty To Report Unrelated Information Observed During Rendering Of Services
Professional obligations conflict, and the board applies no fixed rule for which one wins.
Each resolution is recorded as three edges:
competesWith (the tension),
prevailsOver (the obligation the board allowed to win in this case), and
defeasibleUnder (the situation under which the yielding obligation gives way).
The same tension is then traced across comparable cases, where its resolution shifts with context.
Hover any obligation or state to see its definition; click to open it in OntServe.
How this case resolved it
Confidentiality Non-Override Public Danger Engineer A Bridge Wall Defect
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Client Loyalty Balance Bridge Wall Defect
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Chain Suppression of Wall Defect Finding
- Client-Loyalty vs. Public Safety Paramount Obligation Conflict — Present Case
- Fatal Accident Harm Materialized — Police Officer B
- Public Safety at Risk — Bridge Wall Structural Integrity
Scope-of-Work Non-Shield Structural Safety Engineer A Bridge Wall
prevails over
Engineer A Speculative Wall Defect Formal Report Exclusion
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Selective Omission in Final Bridge Inspection Report
- Engineer A Speculative Causal Link — Wall Defect to Accident
- Fatal Accident Harm Materialized — Police Officer B
- Public Safety at Risk — Bridge Wall Structural Integrity
Engineer A Field Notes Wall Defect Non-Alteration
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Client Loyalty Balance Bridge Wall Defect
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Chain Suppression of Wall Defect Finding
- Client-Loyalty vs. Public Safety Paramount Obligation Conflict — Present Case
- Fatal Accident Harm Materialized — Police Officer B
- Public Safety at Risk — Bridge Wall Structural Integrity
Contextually Calibrated Escalation Engineer A Bridge Fatality Wall Defect
prevails over
Engineer A Speculative Wall Defect Formal Report Exclusion
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Selective Omission in Final Bridge Inspection Report
- Engineer A Speculative Causal Link — Wall Defect to Accident
- Fatal Accident Harm Materialized — Police Officer B
- Public Safety at Risk — Bridge Wall Structural Integrity
Featured
Corrective Action Monitoring Engineer A Bridge Wall Defect Post-Verbal-Report
prevails over
Engineer A Wall Defect Premature External Authority Reporting Prohibition
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A No External Escalation After Suppression
- Graduated Escalation — Speculative Concern Requiring Calibrated Response
Sub-Consultant Independent Escalation Engineer A Post-Suppression Bridge Wall
prevails over
Engineer A Wall Defect Verbal Report to VWX Prime Consultant
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A No External Escalation After Suppression
- Prime Consultant Superior Contextual Knowledge Over Subconsultant Engineer A
Comparative Case Precedent Distinguishing Engineer A Bridge vs Case 89-7
prevails over
Engineer A Case 89-7 Confidentiality Agreement Building Code Violation Reporting
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Comparative Precedent Distinguishing — Present Case vs. Case No. 89-7
Client Report Suppression Resistance Engineer A Bridge Wall Defect
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Client Loyalty Balance Bridge Wall Defect
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Chain Suppression of Wall Defect Finding
- Client-Loyalty vs. Public Safety Paramount Obligation Conflict — Present Case
- Fatal Accident Harm Materialized — Police Officer B
- Public Safety at Risk — Bridge Wall Structural Integrity
Confirmed-Fatality Mandatory Written Escalation Engineer A Wall Defect
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Client Loyalty Balance Bridge Wall Defect
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Chain Suppression of Wall Defect Finding
- Client-Loyalty vs. Public Safety Paramount Obligation Conflict — Present Case
- Fatal Accident Harm Materialized — Police Officer B
- Public Safety at Risk — Bridge Wall Structural Integrity
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Faithful Agent Client Loyalty Balance Bridge Wall Defect vs Passive Acquiescence Suppression Instruction Engineer A Wall Defect
Engineer A Faithful Agent Client Loyalty Balance Bridge Wall Defect vs Post-Verbal-Notification Written Confirmation Engineer A Wall Defect VWX
Engineer A Speculative Wall Defect Formal Report Exclusion vs Incidental Wall Defect Disclosure Engineer A VWX Bridge Inspection
Engineer A Wall Defect Premature External Authority Reporting Prohibition vs Sub-Consultant Independent Escalation Engineer A Post-Suppression Bridge Wall
What the board concluded
- It was ethical for Engineer A to retain the information in his engineering notes but not include it in the final written report as requested.
- It was ethical for Engineer A not to report this information to any other public agency or authority as long as corrective action is taken by the public agency within a relatively short period of time.
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
A faithful-agent duty yields to a public-protection obligation. The yielding obligation ("Faithful Agent") recurs across cases; the obligation that overrides it and the context under which it yields differ case by case. This is the case-law move: not a single rule, but a family of context-indexed resolutions.
| Case | Obligation that prevailed | Yielding obligation | Context (defeasibleUnder) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
24-01
Balancing Client Directives and Public...
|
Engineer L Client Budget Pressure Refusal | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client |
| Engineer L Client Override Regulatory Report | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client | |
|
20-4
Public Health, Safety, and...
|
Engineer B Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B |
| Engineer A Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer A Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B | |
|
95-5
Failure To Include Information In...
|
Engineer B Expert Witness Neutrality | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias |
| Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias | |
|
04-8
Public Welfare—Client Action Following...
|
Engineer A Safety Obligation Wetland Fill | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |
| Engineer A Wetland Confidentiality Limits | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |