Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 93-4 (1993) · Engineer's Duty As Interpreter Of Contract Documents
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 A Contractual Dispute Resolver Impartiality BER 85-5
prevails over
Engineer A Owner Loyalty Misapplication Non-Acquiescence BER 85-5
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Owner Loyalty Claim Against Engineer A's Impartial Determination
Engineer A Contractually Designated Dispute Resolver Impartiality Performance
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Trustee Loyalty Non-Fiduciary Interpretation BER 85-5
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Contractual Impartiality Obligation — Owner-Contractor Concrete Pour Dispute
Engineer A Objectivity in Concrete Pour Dispute Technical Review
prevails over
Engineer A Client Loyalty Non-Partisan Boundary BER 85-5
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Competing Duties — Loyalty vs. Impartiality
BER-85-5 Precedent Confirmation Bias Resistance Cross-Application to Dispute Resolution
prevails over
BER-85-5 Research Engineer Variance Data Omission Ethical Violation
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- BER 85-5 Ambiguous Data Omission in Graduate Research
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Client Loyalty Non-Partisan Boundary BER 85-5 vs Engineer A Contractually Designated Dispute Resolver Impartiality Performance
Engineer A Contractual Dispute Resolver Impartiality BER 85-5 vs Engineer A Loyalty Fulfillment Through Impartial Dispute Finding
Engineer A Contractually Designated Dispute Resolver Impartiality Performance vs Engineer A Owner Loyalty Misapplication Non-Acquiescence BER 85-5
Engineer A Faithful Agent Impartial Role Execution BER 85-5 vs Engineer A Objectivity in Concrete Pour Dispute Technical Review
What the board concluded
- It would be unethical for Engineer A to have found in the Owner's favor, contrary to his considered professional findings in this matter.
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 |