Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 90-5 (1990) · Failure To Report Information Affecting Public Safety
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 competition structure in OntServe
Featured
Engineer A Imminent Danger Notification Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Confidentiality Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Safety Endangerment Confidentiality Release
Engineer A Tenant Safety Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Confidentiality Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Safety Endangerment Confidentiality Release
What the board concluded
- It was unethical for Engineer A to not report the information directly to the tenants and public authorities.
Recorded violations:
Confidentiality Compliance violates Engineer A Tenant Safety Duty
Confidentiality Compliance violates Engineer A Imminent Danger Notification Duty
How comparable cases resolved this and related tensions
Read at the type level, this resolution is: Confidentiality Obligation yields to Reporting Obligation. Comparison across cases happens at this level; the duty types recur while each case's obligations instantiate them. Cases below are grouped by how much of that pairing they share. A duty type that yields here may prevail elsewhere, which is the context-dependence itself, not an inconsistency.
Same tension: both duty types match, so the board ruled on this exact pairing. Related tension: only one duty type matches; the other duty differs, so these show how a type behaves elsewhere rather than a ruling on this pairing.
| Case | Prevailing type | Yielding type | Relation to this case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same tension: both duty types match (2) | |||
|
89-7
Duty To Report Safety Violations
|
Reporting Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | Same tension, resolved the same way |
|
96-8
Peer Review - Confidentiality Agreements
|
Reporting Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | Same tension, resolved the same way |
| Related tension: one duty type matches (9) | |||
|
82-2
Confidentiality of Engineering Report
|
Confidentiality Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The yielding type here prevails there |
|
17-3
Public Health, Safety and...
|
Reporting Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
17-3
Public Health, Safety and...
|
Proactive Risk Disclosure Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
08-10
Public Welfare—Design of Medical Equipment
|
Internal Escalation Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
08-10
Public Welfare—Design of Medical Equipment
|
Faithful Agent Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
89-7
Duty To Report Safety Violations
|
Safety Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | The yielding type here also yields there, to a different duty |
|
96-8
Peer Review - Confidentiality Agreements
|
Safety Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | The yielding type here also yields there, to a different duty |
|
76-4
Public Welfare - Knowledge of Information...
|
Reporting Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here also prevails there, over a different duty |
|
89-7
Duty To Report Safety Violations
|
Reporting Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here also prevails there, over a different duty |
Closest instance-level matches, ranked on the specific obligations and contexts of this case:
| Case | Obligation that prevailed | Yielding obligation | Context (defeasibleUnder) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
89-7
Duty To Report Safety Violations
|
Engineer A Safety Violation Reporting Duty | Engineer A Confidentiality Duty | Code Exception Disclosure Release |
|
96-8
Peer Review - Confidentiality Agreements
|
Engineer A Public Safety Duty | Engineer A Confidentiality Duty | Confidentiality Versus Cooperation Dilemma |
|
21-2
Public Health, Safety, and ...
|
Engineer A Public Safety Duty Beyond Law | Engineer A Design Compliance Duty | Outdated Climate Design Standards |