Case Repository
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Opinions
2025
Balancing Client Directives and Public Welfare: Stormwater Management Dilemma
Case #24-01
Synthesized
Questions:
- Was it ethical for Engineer L to cease work when requested by Client X, without voicing concern about increased risk?
- Would it be ethical for Engineer L to continue working on Client X’s project when Client X refuses to invest in the protective measures identified...
Conclusions:
- It was not unethical for Engineer L to cease work when requested by Client X, without voicing concern about unquantified increased risk. Later, Engineer L did comply with Code provisions that require engineers to notify their employers or clients if a project will not be successful.
- It would not be ethical for Engineer L to continue working on Client X’s project when Client X refuses to invest in the protective measures identified by Engineer L. Continuing to work on the project after concerns about runoff were quantified would in effect mean Engineer L was placing the clients’ financial interest above the engineer’s paramount obligation to the public health, safety, and welfare. This, the engineer cannot ethically do.
1995
Failure To Include Information In Engineering Report
Case #95-5
Synthesized
Questions:
- Was it ethical for Engineer B to not have included the failed operation of the test equipment in his report?
- Was it ethical for Engineer B not to communicate with any representatives of Engineer A about the project?
- Was it ethical for Engineer B not to communicate with the contractor’s supervisor and workers who were on the job during construction?
- ... and 1 more
Conclusions:
- 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.
- It was unethical for Engineer B to issue his report without mentioning that the 19 piles questioned had, according to the driving records, met refusal.