Obligation-Conflict Resolution - Conflict Of Interest—Public Employee Serving As Part-Time Consultant

Obligation-Conflict Resolution

Case 02-8 (2002) · Conflict Of Interest—Public Employee Serving As Part-Time Consultant

Case Precedents

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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Faithful Agent DOT Employer Loyalty Engineer A Private Consulting Boundary prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Government Grant Authority Non-Exploitation Engineer A Airport Grant Municipalities prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting prevails over Conflict of Interest Recusal Traffic Signal Review Engineer A Municipal Airport Clients

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Engineer A Faithful Agent Trustee DOT Employer Structural Conflict prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Engineer A Cross-Domain Interrelated Infrastructure Conflict DOT Highway Airport prevails over Engineer A Cross-Domain Same-Client DOT Highway Airport Municipal Conflict

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports

Open tensions recorded without a resolution: Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting vs Engineer A Governmental Procedure Compliance DOT Airport Dual Employment Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting vs State DOT Employer Prior Approval Disclosure Engineer A Airport Consulting Solicitation Dual Role Appearance of Impropriety Avoidance Engineer A Municipal Overlap vs Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport Engineer A Cross-Domain Same-Client DOT Highway Airport Municipal Conflict vs Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport Engineer A Government Grant Authority Non-Exploitation DOT Airport Municipalities vs Government Grant Authority Non-Exploitation Engineer A Airport Grant Municipalities

What the board concluded

It would be unethical for Engineer A to serve on a part-time basis in seeking contracts with municipalities for design work associated with the airport improvements (master plans, runway extensions, etc.) while continuing to work as an employee with the State DOT.