Obligation-Conflict Resolution - Conflict Of Interest—Public Employee Serving As Part-Time Consultant

Obligation-Conflict Resolution

Case 02-8 (2002) · Conflict Of Interest—Public Employee Serving As Part-Time Consultant

Case Precedents

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 A Faithful Agent Trustee DOT Employer Structural Conflict prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Engineer A Cross-Domain Interrelated Infrastructure Conflict DOT Highway Airport prevails over Engineer A Cross-Domain Same-Client DOT Highway Airport Municipal Conflict

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports

Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting prevails over Conflict of Interest Recusal Traffic Signal Review Engineer A Municipal Airport Clients

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Faithful Agent DOT Employer Loyalty Engineer A Private Consulting Boundary prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Government Grant Authority Non-Exploitation Engineer A Airport Grant Municipalities prevails over Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport

the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):

Engineer A Adjacent Domain Dual Employment Conflict — Highways vs. Airports
Engineer A Employer-Aware Dual Employment Insufficient Mitigation
Engineer A Shared Municipal Stakeholder Dual Role Conflict

Open tensions recorded without a resolution: Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting vs Engineer A Governmental Procedure Compliance DOT Airport Dual Employment Cross-Domain Same-Client Conflict Non-Engagement Engineer A Municipal Airport Consulting vs State DOT Employer Prior Approval Disclosure Engineer A Airport Consulting Solicitation Dual Role Appearance of Impropriety Avoidance Engineer A Municipal Overlap vs Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport Engineer A Cross-Domain Same-Client DOT Highway Airport Municipal Conflict vs Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport Engineer A Government Grant Authority Non-Exploitation DOT Airport Municipalities vs Government Grant Authority Non-Exploitation Engineer A Airport Grant Municipalities

What the board concluded

It would be unethical for Engineer A to serve on a part-time basis in seeking contracts with municipalities for design work associated with the airport improvements (master plans, runway extensions, etc.) while continuing to work as an employee with the State DOT.

How comparable cases resolved the same tension

Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport yields to Engineer A Faithful Agent Trustee DOT Employer Structural Conflict. The yielding obligation ("Engineer A Employer Awareness Non-Sufficiency Structural Conflict DOT Airport") 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)
19-3 Expert Witness—Chair of Standards and...	Engineer A DOE Coal Bed Methane Governmental Employee Private Consulting Conflict	Engineer A DOT Traffic Engineer Airport Consulting Dual Role Conflict	Engineer A State DOT Airport Consulting Dual Role Conflict
07-12 Expert Witness—Disclosure of Interests Represented	Engineer A Extreme Same-Domain Conflict Heightened Scrutiny Recognition Failure	Engineer A State DOT Airport Consulting Interrelated Domain Conflict Violation	BER 02-8 Engineer A Highway-Airport Adjacent Domain Conflict
10-5 Public Health and Safety—Observing...	Engineer A Employer Intermediary Escalation ES Consulting Owner Y Safety	Engineer A Permissible Employer Escalation Adjacent Safety Observation	--
00-5 Public Welfare—Bridge Structure	Engineer A Imminent Bridge Collapse Multi-Authority Campaign Escalation	Engineer A Employment Pressure Non-Subordination Public Safety	Engineer A Public Pressure and Employment Pressure Safety Abrogation
94-8 Competence To Perform Foundation Design	Engineer B Cross-Discipline Structural Footing Assignment Acceptance Refusal Obligation	Engineer B Sole-Purpose Structural Footing Sub-Delegation Infeasibility Recognition Obligation	Engineer B Sole-Purpose Structural Footing Engagement Precluding Delegation