Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 65-9 (1965) · Public Criticism of Proposed Public Highway Route
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
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Consulting Engineer Open Letter Public Welfare Civic Participation Non-Preclusion
prevails over
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Undisclosed Private Interest Compliance
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Consulting Engineer Prior Highway Connection
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Sound Knowledge Foundation Compliance
prevails over
Consulting Engineer Principal Factual Grounding of Cost Estimate Critique and Route D Proposal
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
No State context committed for this edge.
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Public Welfare Civic Participation Non-Preclusion
prevails over
Consulting Engineer Principal Prior-Work Financial Interest Disclosure in Public Letter
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
No State context committed for this edge.
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Temperate Non-Malicious Peer Critique Compliance
prevails over
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Adverse Peer Critique Non-Malicious Non-Violation Finding
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Consulting Engineer Prior Highway Connection
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Public Welfare Civic Participation Non-Preclusion
prevails over
Consulting Engineer Principal Honest Objectivity Non-Partisan Alignment with City Official
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer-City Official Route D Alignment
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Temperate Non-Malicious Peer Critique Compliance vs Consulting Engineer Principal Self-Interest Non-Weaponization in Highway Department Cost Estimate Critique
Consulting Engineer Open Letter Undisclosed Private Interest Compliance vs Consulting Engineer Principal Public Route Commentary Civic Responsibility
Consulting Engineer Principal Prior-Work Financial Interest Disclosure in Public Letter vs Consulting Engineer Principal Public Route Commentary Civic Responsibility
Consulting Engineer Principal Self-Interest Non-Weaponization in Highway Department Cost Estimate Critique vs Highway Department Engineers Cost Estimate Honest Disagreement Non-Violation Recognition
What the board concluded
- Under the facts and circumstances of the case, it is ethical for an engineer to publicly express criticism of proposed highway routes prepared by engineers of the state highway department, and to propose an alternative route.