Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 23-1 (2023) · Competence in Design Services
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
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Engineer B Political Lobbying Non-Substitution County Commission
prevails over
Engineer B Political Lobbying County Commission Rural Roadway Contract
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer B Financial Pressure Driving Scope Overreach
Engineer B Honest Competence Representation Rural Roadway Bidding
prevails over
Engineer B Economic Pressure Non-Subordination Rural Roadway Contract
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer B Financial Pressure Driving Scope Overreach
- Engineer B Financial Pressure Scope Overreach - Highway Contract
Engineer B Professional Honor Reputation Preservation Rural Roadway Bidding
prevails over
Engineer B Economic Pressure Non-Subordination Rural Roadway Contract
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer B Financial Pressure Driving Scope Overreach
- Engineer B Financial Pressure Scope Overreach - Highway Contract
Engineer B Domain-Specific Competence Verification Rural Roadway Contract
prevails over
County A Competitive Procurement Fairness Local Advertisement Policy
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Public Safety at Risk - Deficient Roadway Design
Engineer B Domain-Specific Competence Verification Rural Roadway Contract
prevails over
Engineer B Economic Pressure Non-Subordination Rural Roadway Contract
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer B Financial Pressure Driving Scope Overreach
- Engineer B Financial Pressure Scope Overreach - Highway Contract
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer B Design Deficiency Early Disclosure Construction Problems vs Engineer B Economic Pressure Non-Subordination Rural Roadway Contract
Engineer B Economic Pressure Non-Subordination Rural Roadway Contract vs Engineer B Faithful Agent Obligation County A Roadway Design
Engineer B Economic Pressure Non-Subordination Rural Roadway Contract vs Engineer B Honest Competence Representation County A Procurement
Engineer B Economic Pressure Non-Subordination Rural Roadway Contract vs Engineer B Political Lobbying County Commission Rural Roadway Contract
What the board concluded
- It was unethical for Engineer B to accept the rural roadway design contract under these circumstances.
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
Engineer B Political Lobbying County Commission Rural Roadway Contract yields to Engineer B Political Lobbying Non-Substitution County Commission. The yielding obligation ("Engineer B Political Lobbying County Commission Rural Roadway Contract") 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
85-3
P.E. Requirement for County Surveyor Position
|
Engineer A Domain-Specific Competence Verification County Surveyor Acceptance | Engineer A Ethics Exceeds Legal Permissibility County Surveyor PE License | Engineer A Formal Credential Without Substantive Domain Competence — Employment Instance |
|
77-11
Supplanting - Promotion of Work by Former Employees
|
Firm B Specialized Knowledge Former Client Project Competition Constraint | Firm B Engineers Supplanting Rule Non-Application Former Clients No Active Contract | Firm B Specialized Project Knowledge Solicitation Restriction; Free and Open Competition Framework Governing Engineering Firm Competition; Prior Client Relationship Leverage by Departed Engineers |
|
22-5
Professional Responsibility if ...
|
EngineerB_PublicWelfareSafetyEscalation | EngineerB_ABCEmployerLoyaltyBoundary | Confirmed Lead Leaching Risk Without Safeguards; Lead Exposure Risk from Deferred Water Treatment; MWC Decision to Proceed Without Concurrent Treatment |
|
73-9
Endorsement of Project by Local Chapter
|
Engineer B Retained Advocate Chapter Presentation Full Disclosure | Engineer B Retained Professional Society Endorsement Solicitation Permissibility | Competing Duties Between Client Loyalty and Professional Society Objectivity; Engineer B Firm-Partner Advocacy Alignment; Engineer B Society Endorsement Solicitation |
|
79-2
Public Criticism - Environmental Concerns
|
Engineers A and B Competing Loyalty Public Safety Primacy Resolution Landfill Design | Engineers A and B Faithful Agent Town Council Iterative Redesign Within Ethical Limits | Competing Public Goods Tension - Waste Disposal Necessity vs Environmental Protection; Expanded Landfill Regulatory Compliance with Residual Environmental Risk; Intensified Site Use Environmental Risk Acceptance - Higher Contour Landfill Design; Landfill Capacity Exhaustion Imminent - Town Landfill; Methane Migration and Groundwater Contamination Risk - Town Landfill Higher Contour Design |