DP4

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

DP4

Can Engineer Doe rely on disclosure of his conflicts of interest under the general ethics code provisions to cure or excuse his participation in governmental decisions about plans he privately prepared, or does the absolute public-service prohibition foreclose disclosure as a remedy?

Engineer Doe, aware of the potential conflict created by his triple-role arrangement, considers whether to invoke the disclosure provisions of the ethics code — specifically the general conflict disclosure requirements — as a mechanism to render his conduct permissible. He must decide whether disclosure to the relevant parties (the county, the planning board, or the developer) is sufficient to cure the structural conflicts arising from his simultaneous roles as private designer, county engineer recommender, and planning board voter.

Disclose the private consulting relationship to the county and planning board under the general conflict-of-interest provisions, then proceed to recommend and vote on the plans on the theory that disclosure satisfies all ethical obligations — the approach Engineer Doe took, which the Board found to be categorically insufficient because the absolute Section 8(b) prohibition is not subject to a disclosure exception for public service engineers.

Acknowledge that the absolute prohibition applicable to public service engineers cannot be cured by disclosure, and respond by withdrawing from one or both public roles — county engineer or planning board member — before the plans are submitted, thereby eliminating the governmental authority that makes the conflict irremediable.

Claim that the conflict is unavoidable given the small-jurisdiction context where qualified engineers are scarce, invoke the unavoidable-conflict exception available to private-practice engineers, make full disclosure, and proceed — an approach that fails because the unavoidable-conflict exception does not apply to public service engineers, for whom the Section 8(b) prohibition is absolute and admits no exception based on necessity or unavoidability.

Public Service Engineer Assessing Disclosure as Conflict Cure