Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 95-5 (1995) · Failure To Include Information In Engineering Report
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
Engineer B Expert Witness Neutrality
prevails over
Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer B Adversarial Engagement
- Engineer B Client Defense Bias
Featured
Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting
prevails over
Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer B Adversarial Engagement
- Engineer B Client Defense Bias
What the board concluded
- It was unethical for Engineer B to issue his report without mentioning the failed operation of the testing equipment.
- It was unethical for Engineer B to not communicate with any representative of Engineer A about the project.
- It was unethical for Engineer B to not communicate with the contractor’s supervisor and workers who were on the job during construction.
Recorded violations:
Pile Record Exclusion violates Engineer B Expert Witness Neutrality
Stakeholder Consultation Omission violates Engineer B Investigative Completeness
Stakeholder Consultation Omission violates Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting
Stakeholder Consultation Omission violates Engineer B Fact Gathering Diligence
Non-Representative Test Execution violates Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting
Deficient Report Issuance violates Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting
Non-Representative Test Execution violates Engineer B Fact Gathering Diligence
Equipment Failure Non-Disclosure violates Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting
Contradictory Post-Report Explanation violates Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting
Contradictory Post-Report Explanation violates Engineer B Fact Gathering Diligence
Deficient Report Issuance violates Engineer B Expert Witness Neutrality
Non-Representative Test Execution violates Engineer B Methodological Consistency
Deficient Report Issuance violates Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary
Equipment Failure Non-Disclosure violates Engineer B Contradictory Evidence Disclosure
Deficient Report Issuance violates Engineer B Adversarial Data Selection
Contradictory Post-Report Explanation violates Engineer B Contradictory Evidence Disclosure
Pile Record Exclusion violates Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting
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 | |
|
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 |