Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 16-10 (2016) · Public Health, Safety and Welfare-Former Employee's Participation in a Public Safety Standards Hearing
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
Featured
Engineer Doe BER 76-4 Post-Termination Public Hearing Reporting
prevails over
Engineer A Current Case Post-Employment Confidentiality Agreement Compliance Public Testimony
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Post-Employment Witness Participation Consideration
- Public Safety at Risk from Unresolved Consumer Product Concern
Engineer A Current Case Regulatory Gap Heightened Safety Escalation
prevails over
Company X Employer Reasonableness Recognition Absent Standards Context
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
No State context committed for this edge.
Engineer A Post-Employment Hearing Participation Consideration
prevails over
Engineer A Current Case Post-Employment Confidentiality Agreement Compliance Public Testimony
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Post-Employment Witness Participation Consideration
- Public Safety at Risk from Unresolved Consumer Product Concern
Engineer A Current Case Employer Cost Rejection Non-Acquiescence Assessment
prevails over
Company X Safety Testing Rejection Ethical Violation
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Novel Consumer Product Regulatory Standards Vacuum
- Present Case Company X Good Faith Safety Concern Without Demonstrable Violation
Engineer A Public Interest Testimony Obligation at Government Hearing
prevails over
Engineer A Current Case Post-Employment Confidentiality Agreement Compliance Public Testimony
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Post-Employment Witness Participation Consideration
- Public Safety at Risk from Unresolved Consumer Product Concern
Engineer A Non-Acquiescence After Company X Rejection
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Internal Recommendation Fulfillment
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company X Cost-Driven Rejection of Additional Safety Testing
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Company X Employer Reasonableness Recognition Absent Standards Context vs Company X Safety Testing Rejection Ethical Violation
Company X Employer Reasonableness Recognition Absent Standards Context vs Engineer A Current Case Employer Cost Rejection Non-Acquiescence Assessment
Engineer A Current Case Standard Safety Testing Non-Preclusion Additional Concern Reporting vs Engineer A Faithful Agent Internal Recommendation Fulfillment
Engineer A MedTech BER 08-10 Premature External Reporting Threat vs Engineer A Non-Acquiescence After Company X Rejection
What the board concluded
- The NSPE Board of Ethical Review does not believe there is any clear ethical prohibition on Engineer A from participating in the public safety standards hearing as long as (1) Engineer A possesses the technical competence to serve as an engineering expert in the area in which Engineer A is testifying; (2) Engineer A testifies in an objective and truthful manner; and (3) Engineer A does not...
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 |