Honesty in Professional Representations — Engineer A Non-Competition Statement
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/127#Honesty_in_Professional_Representations_—_Engineer_A_Non-Competition_Statement
Properties
Instance of
HonestyinProfessionalRepresentations
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#HonestyinProfessionalRepresentations
Applied to
Engineer A's departure statement about non-competition
Balancing with
At-Will Employment Symmetry and Engineer Mobility Right
Free and Open Competition as Engineering Ethics Boundary Condition
Concrete expression
Engineer A's statement at departure that he would start a one-person firm and not compete with Firm X was treated by the Board as a professional representation that Engineer A intended to be truthful; the subsequent competitive conduct violated the honesty norm applicable to professional representations made in the context of an employment transition
Confidence
0.9
Importance
high
Interpretation
Even voluntary representations made in professional contexts carry honesty obligations; the Board's finding that 'one must assume that Engineer A intended the statement to be a truthful and honest statement of fact' establishes that professional honesty norms attach to departure representations regardless of their legal enforceability
Invoked by
NSPE Board of Ethical Review
Tension resolution
The honesty obligation attached to the voluntary representation overrides the general competitive freedom Engineer A would otherwise have had; having made the representation, Engineer A was bound by it as a matter of professional honesty
Source Evidence
Source text
While Engineer A was not ethically obligated to make this statement, one must assume that Engineer A intended the statement to be a truthful and honest statement of fact.
Text references
Engineer A's statement clearly could have a significant impact on the manner in which Firm X treated Engineer A during Engineer A's departure from Firm X.
However, it is apparent that Engineer A's subsequent actions were in direct conflict with his statement.
While Engineer A was not ethically obligated to make this statement, one must assume that Engineer A intended the statement to be a truthful and honest statement of fact.
TTL
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://proethica.org/ontology/case/127#Honesty_in_Professional_Representations_—_Engineer_A_Non-Competition_Statement> a proeth:HonestyinProfessionalRepresentations,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Honesty in Professional Representations — Engineer A Non-Competition Statement" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer A's departure statement about non-competition" ;
proeth:balancingwith "At-Will Employment Symmetry and Engineer Mobility Right",
"Free and Open Competition as Engineering Ethics Boundary Condition" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Engineer A's statement at departure that he would start a one-person firm and not compete with Firm X was treated by the Board as a professional representation that Engineer A intended to be truthful; the subsequent competitive conduct violated the honesty norm applicable to professional representations made in the context of an employment transition" ;
proeth:confidence "0.9" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "127" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T03:21:56.514585+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "127" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T03:21:56.514585+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "Even voluntary representations made in professional contexts carry honesty obligations; the Board's finding that 'one must assume that Engineer A intended the statement to be a truthful and honest statement of fact' establishes that professional honesty norms attach to departure representations regardless of their legal enforceability" ;
proeth:invokedby "NSPE Board of Ethical Review" ;
proeth:principleclass "Honesty in Professional Representations" ;
proeth:sourcetext "While Engineer A was not ethically obligated to make this statement, one must assume that Engineer A intended the statement to be a truthful and honest statement of fact." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "The honesty obligation attached to the voluntary representation overrides the general competitive freedom Engineer A would otherwise have had; having made the representation, Engineer A was bound by it as a matter of professional honesty" ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer A's statement clearly could have a significant impact on the manner in which Firm X treated Engineer A during Engineer A's departure from Firm X.",
"However, it is apparent that Engineer A's subsequent actions were in direct conflict with his statement.",
"While Engineer A was not ethically obligated to make this statement, one must assume that Engineer A intended the statement to be a truthful and honest statement of fact." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 127 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T03:44:36.610792"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 127 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
127
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T03:21:56.514585+00:00
First case
127
Generated
2026-03-01T03:21:56.514585+00:00
Attributed to
Case 127 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T03:44:36.610792
Generated by
ProEthica Case 127 Extraction