Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 89-7 (1989) · Duty To Report Safety Violations
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
Engineer A Authority Notification Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Code Exception Disclosure Release
Engineer A Safety Precedence Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Confidentiality Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Code Exception Disclosure Release
Engineer A Safety Precedence Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Code Exception Disclosure Release
Featured
Engineer A Safety Violation Reporting Duty
prevails over
Engineer A Confidentiality Duty
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Code Exception Disclosure Release
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Confidentiality Duty vs Engineer A Occupant Safety Duty
What the board concluded
- It was unethical for Engineer A not to report the safety violations to the appropriate public authorities.
Recorded violations:
Nondisclosure to Authorities violates Engineer A Safety Precedence Duty
Nondisclosure to Authorities violates Engineer A Authority Notification Duty
How comparable cases resolved this and related tensions
Read at the type level, this resolution is: Confidentiality Obligation yields to Reporting 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) | |||
|
90-5
Failure To Report Information Affecting...
|
Reporting Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | Same tension, resolved the same way |
|
96-8
Peer Review - Confidentiality Agreements
|
Reporting Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | Same tension, resolved the same way |
| Related tension: one duty type matches (8) | |||
|
82-2
Confidentiality of Engineering Report
|
Confidentiality Obligation | Faithful Agent Obligation | The yielding type here prevails there |
|
17-3
Public Health, Safety and...
|
Reporting Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
17-3
Public Health, Safety and...
|
Proactive Risk Disclosure Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
08-10
Public Welfare—Design of Medical Equipment
|
Internal Escalation Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
08-10
Public Welfare—Design of Medical Equipment
|
Faithful Agent Obligation | Reporting Obligation | The prevailing type here yields there |
|
90-5
Failure To Report Information Affecting...
|
Safety Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | The yielding type here also yields there, to a different duty |
|
96-8
Peer Review - Confidentiality Agreements
|
Safety Obligation | Confidentiality Obligation | The yielding type here also yields there, to a different duty |
|
76-4
Public Welfare - Knowledge of Information...
|
Reporting Obligation | Faithful Agent 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
90-5
Failure To Report Information Affecting...
|
Engineer A Imminent Danger Notification Duty | Engineer A Confidentiality Duty | Safety Endangerment Confidentiality Release |
|
96-8
Peer Review - Confidentiality Agreements
|
Engineer A Public Safety Duty | Engineer A Confidentiality Duty | Confidentiality Versus Cooperation Dilemma |
|
21-2
Public Health, Safety, and ...
|
Engineer A Public Safety Duty Beyond Law | Engineer A Design Compliance Duty | Outdated Climate Design Standards |
|
76-4
Public Welfare - Knowledge of Information...
|
Engineer Doe Authority Reporting Duty | Engineer Doe Faithful Agent Duty | No Written Report Directive |
|
88-6
Whistleblowing - City Engineer
|
Engineer A Proper Authority Reporting Duty | Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty | Loyalty Versus Public Protection Conflict |