DP9

DecisionPoint
http://proethica.org/ontology/cases#DecisionPoint

DP9

When the Faithful Agent Obligation — requiring Engineer A to serve the state's interest in the most efficient route — directly conflicts with the Do No Harm Obligation — requiring avoidance of irreversible harm to the farmhouse owner — how should Engineer A structure the advisory to honor both obligations without subordinating either?

Engineer A: Resolving the Conflict Between Faithful Agent Obligation and Do No Harm Obligation When Shortest Route Requires Eminent Domain of Historic Property

Present the state with a complete multi-option advisory that sequences creative and hybrid alternatives first, frames eminent domain as a last resort accompanied by full cultural and proportionality consequence disclosure, and explicitly advises the state that faithful service to its legitimate interests includes awareness of the legal, reputational, and ethical costs of condemnation — leaving the final route decision to the state with full informational basis

Present the shortest route as the primary recommendation consistent with the contracted scope, disclose the eminent domain requirement and the owner's refusal as implementation constraints, and note the longer alternative as a fallback — without providing an independent proportionality assessment or harm-weighting judgment, on the grounds that the state as the legally empowered client is best positioned to weigh efficiency against condemnation costs and that providing unsolicited value judgments risks usurping the client's policy-making authority

Advise the state that Engineer A cannot recommend the shortest route without qualification given the irreversible harm its only viable implementation path imposes on the farmhouse owner, present the longer route as the professionally defensible recommendation, and offer to conduct further analysis of hybrid alternatives if the state wishes to pursue a middle path — framing the advisory as a professional judgment that the disproportionality of harm warrants recommending against the shortest route absent feasible alternatives

Engineer