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

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Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty prevails over Engineer A Conditional Reporting Duty

the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)

this resolution as a triple in OntServe

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)

this resolution as a triple in OntServe

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 this and related tensions

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. 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)
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
Related tension: one duty type matches (16)
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
82-2 Confidentiality of Engineering Report	Confidentiality 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