Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 65-12 (1965) · Participation in Production of Unsafe Equipment
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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Company B Engineers Appropriate Authority Notification After Override
prevails over
Company B Engineers Competing Loyalty Resolution in Favor of Public Safety
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Engineers Competing Duties: Employer Loyalty vs. Public Safety
Company B Engineers Public Welfare Paramount Duty Fulfillment
prevails over
Company B Engineers Competing Loyalty Resolution in Favor of Public Safety
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Engineers Competing Duties: Employer Loyalty vs. Public Safety
Company B Engineers Going-Along Prohibition After Employer Override
prevails over
Company B Engineers Passive Acquiescence Independent Ethical Failure Risk
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Engineers Employer-Ordered Execution of Disputed Design
Company B Engineers Ethics Code Purposive Reading Application
prevails over
Company B Engineers Production Participation Refusal Obligation
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Engineers Participation Bar in Unsafe Machinery Design
Company B Engineers Post-Client-Override Public Safety Escalation
prevails over
Company B Engineers Graduated Internal Escalation Through Officials
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Engineers Inter-Firm Escalation Completed Without Resolution
Company B Engineers Project Withdrawal Obligation
prevails over
Company B Engineers Employment Loss Acceptance as Cost of Safety Refusal
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Engineers Employment Loss Risk from Safety Withdrawal Obligation
Company B Engineers Project Withdrawal If Production Proceeds
prevails over
Company B Engineers Employment Loss Acceptance for Public Safety
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Whistleblower Employment Jeopardy for Company B Engineers Refusing to Proceed
Company B Engineers Production Participation Refusal Obligation
prevails over
Company B Engineers Employer Instruction Non-Override Recognition
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Officials Instruct Engineers to Proceed Despite Unresolved Safety Concern
Business Decision Boundary Non-Extension to Public Safety Case 61-10 Distinction
prevails over
Company B Engineers Employer Instruction Non-Override Recognition
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Company B Officials Instruct Engineers to Proceed Despite Unresolved Safety Concern
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Company A Engineers Objective Review of External Safety Notification vs Cross-Firm Honest Safety Disagreement Impartial Referral Recommendation
What the board concluded
- The ethical obligations of the engineers of Company "B" are to notify their employer of possible dangers to the public safety and seek to have the design and specifications altered to make the machinery safe in their opinion; if the opinions cannot be reconciled they should propose submission of the problem to an independent and impartial body of experts: unless and until the engineers of...
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
Company B Engineers Competing Loyalty Resolution in Favor of Public Safety yields to Company B Engineers Appropriate Authority Notification After Override. The yielding obligation ("Company B Engineers Competing Loyalty Resolution in Favor of Public Safety") 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
92-4
Public Welfare - Duty Of Government Engineer
|
Engineer A Employment Pressure Non-Subordination Public Safety | Engineer A Employer Loyalty Bounded by Public Safety | Engineer A Public Safety Permit Refusal State; Public Safety Risk from SO2 Emissions Without Adequate Scrubbing |
|
88-6
Whistleblowing - City Engineer
|
Engineer A Pattern-of-Disregard State Authority Escalation Sanitary Overflow | Engineer A Competing Loyalty Public Safety Primacy Administrator C Faithful Agent Tension | Administrator C Suppression of Regulatory Reporting; City Administrator C Non-Engineer Override of Engineer A's Authority; Competing Duties — Safety Obligation vs. Employer Loyalty; Engineer A Internal Escalation Exhausted — City Officials Complicit; Engineer A Public Servant Heightened External Reporting Obligation; Imminent Environmental Discharge Mandatory State Notification — Water Supply; Imminent Waste Discharge Mandatory State Reporting Obligation Activated; Internal Escalation Exhausted — Sanitary System Safety; Non-Engineer Administrator Directing Engineering Safety System; Public Safety at Risk from Sanitary System Overflow; Superior Authority Suppression of State Regulatory Reporting; Water Supply Contamination Public Safety Endangerment |
|
92-6
Public Welfare - Hazardous Waste
|
Engineer B Safety Obligation Hazardous Waste Public Welfare | Engineer B Business Relationship Non-Justification Regulatory Reporting | Business-Relationship Preservation Displacing Regulatory Reporting |
|
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 |
|
16-3
Professional Selection—Receipt of...
|
Engineer A Procurement Integrity Public Interest QBS Administration | Engineer A Prior Performance Non-Consideration Firm B Compliance Determination | Conflict of Interest - Engineer A QBS Evaluator with Known Firm; Engineer A Prior Favorable Relationship with Firm B |