DP3

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

DP3

Should Engineer A distribute a business card listing State B offices alongside the P.E. designation while relying solely on the explicit State C-only licensure notation to prevent recipients from inferring that licensed engineering services are available from the State B office, or must the card include an additional affirmative clarification that the State B office provides only non-engineering consulting?

Engineer A distributes a business card in State C that lists offices in State B and identifies licensure as held only in State C, while actually performing only non-engineering consulting services from the State B office. The card creates a potential inference that licensed engineering services are available from the State B office, but the explicit State C-only licensure notation and the non-engineering character of State B activities are offered as sufficient disclosure. The question is whether the card's explicit licensure notation adequately discharges the honesty obligation, and what ongoing obligation Engineer A bears to update the card if the scope of State B services changes.

Distribute the card as presented, treating the explicit State C-only licensure notation as sufficient to discharge the honesty obligation and prevent recipients from being misled about the availability of licensed engineering services from the State B office, while maintaining a strict behavioral commitment to non-engineering consulting in State B.

Revise the card to include an affirmative notation that the State B office provides non-engineering consulting services only, eliminating the residual inferential risk that recipients might assume licensed engineering services are available from that office rather than merely mitigating it through the licensure-state disclosure.

Omit the State B office reference from the business card entirely, listing only the State C licensure and contact information, on the grounds that including a State B address alongside the P.E. designation creates an inferential risk that cannot be fully neutralized by textual disclosure alone.

Engineer A (Situation 3)