Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 08-10 (2008) · Public Welfare—Design of Medical Equipment
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 Faithful Agent Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Conditional Reporting Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Internal Mechanisms Available MedTech
Engineer A Internal Recourse Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Conditional Reporting Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Internal Mechanisms Available MedTech
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty vs Engineer A Public Safety Duty
What the board concluded
- It was not ethical for Engineer A to indicate that if prompt measures are not taken to correct the problem, he will be compelled to report the matter to an appropriate federal regulatory agency. Instead, Engineer A should have sought to determine what internal steps are being taken to address the concerns. However, if after making additional inquiries, Engineer A determined that no meaningful...
Recorded violations:
Corrective Action Omission violates Engineer A Public Safety Duty
External Reporting Threat violates Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
Read at the type level, this resolution is: Reporting Obligation yields to Faithful Agent Obligation. Comparison across cases happens at this level; the duty types recur while each case's obligations instantiate them.
| Case | Prevailing type | Yielding type | Relation to this case |
|---|---|---|---|
|
76-4
Public Welfare - Knowledge of Information...
|
Reporting Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | Same tension, resolved the opposite way |
|
89-7
Duty To Report Safety Violations
|
Reporting Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | Same tension, resolved the opposite way |
|
17-3
Public Health, Safety and...
|
Reporting Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The yielding type here prevails there |
|
89-7
Duty To Report Safety Violations
|
Reporting Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | The yielding type here prevails there |
|
90-5
Failure To Report Information Affecting...
|
Reporting Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | The yielding type here prevails there |
|
96-8
Peer Review - Confidentiality Agreements
|
Reporting Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | The yielding type here prevails there |
|
24-1
Balancing Client Directives and Public...
|
Safety Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
22-2
Sharing As-Built Drawings
|
Disclosure Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
76-4
Public Welfare - Knowledge of Information...
|
Safety Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
89-7
Duty To Report Safety Violations
|
Safety Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
88-6
Whistleblowing - City Engineer
|
Safety Withdrawaland Notification Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
92-6
Public Welfare - Hazardous Waste
|
Safety Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
17-3
Public Health, Safety and...
|
Proactive Risk Disclosure Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The yielding type here also yields there, to a different duty |
|
24-5
Sustainable Development and Resilient...
|
Faithful Agent Obligation | Professional Accountability Obligation | The prevailing type here also prevails there, over a different duty |
|
97-13
Duty To Report Unrelated Information...
|
Faithful Agent Obligation | Safety Obligation | The prevailing type here also prevails there, over a different duty |
|
93-3
Appropriate Notification And Review Of...
|
Faithful Agent Obligation | Peer Review Cooperation Obligation | The prevailing type here also prevails there, over a different duty |
|
85-4
Objectivity of Engineer Retained as Expert
|
Faithful Agent Obligation | Objectivity 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
97-13
Duty To Report Unrelated Information...
|
Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty | Engineer A Public Safety Duty | Client Report Omission Directive |
|
17-3
Public Health, Safety and...
|
Engineer A Corrective Action Escalation Duty | Engineer A Client Defect Reporting Duty | Higher Ethical Threshold for Engineer A |
|
93-3
Appropriate Notification And Review Of...
|
Engineer B Faithful Agent Duty | Engineer B Peer Notification Duty | Franchiser Nondisclosure Directive |