At-Will Employment Symmetry and Engineer Mobility Right Contextual Boundary Applied
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/171#At-Will_Employment_Symmetry_and_Engineer_Mobility_Right_Contextual_Boundary_Applied
Properties
Instance of
At-WillEmploymentSymmetryandEngineerMobilityRight
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#At-WillEmploymentSymmetryandEngineerMobilityRight
Applied to
Boundary between permissible post-departure competition and prohibited pre-departure solicitation
Balancing with
Current-Client Solicitation During Active Employment Prohibition Principle
Faithful Agent Trustee Duty as General Loyalty and Fair Dealing
Concrete expression
The Board affirmed that an engineer who severs all ties with an employer and then seeks to contact the employer's clients to offer engineering services does not violate the Code — preserving the engineer's mobility right — while simultaneously holding that this right does not extend to covert solicitation of current clients during active employment.
Confidence
0.9
Importance
high
Interpretation
The mobility right is real and protected, but it is bounded by the timing of departure and the current/former client distinction; the right does not license conduct that exploits the employment relationship against the employer's active interests.
Invoked by
NSPE Board of Ethical Review
Tension resolution
The Board resolved the tension by affirming Case 77-11's protection of post-departure mobility while carving out the pre-departure current-client solicitation scenario as a distinct and prohibited category.
Source Evidence
Source text
We do not mean to suggest than an employee who severs all ties with the employer and then seeks to contact clients of the employer in order to offer engineering services is in violation of the Code. To the contrary, those were the facts of Case 77-11 and that case remains a proper interpretation of the Code.
Text references
Nor do we wish to suggest any restraint exists upon one's absolute right to select in all cases, the engineer of one's choice.
To the contrary, those were the facts of Case 77-11 and that case remains a proper interpretation of the Code.
We do not mean to suggest than an employee who severs all ties with the employer and then seeks to contact clients of the employer in order to offer engineering services is in violation of the Code.
TTL
@prefix case171: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/171#> .
@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#> .
case171:At-Will_Employment_Symmetry_and_Engineer_Mobility_Right_Contextual_Boundary_Applied a proeth:At-WillEmploymentSymmetryandEngineerMobilityRight,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "At-Will Employment Symmetry and Engineer Mobility Right Contextual Boundary Applied" ;
proeth:appliedto "Boundary between permissible post-departure competition and prohibited pre-departure solicitation" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Current-Client Solicitation During Active Employment Prohibition Principle",
"Faithful Agent Trustee Duty as General Loyalty and Fair Dealing" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The Board affirmed that an engineer who severs all ties with an employer and then seeks to contact the employer's clients to offer engineering services does not violate the Code — preserving the engineer's mobility right — while simultaneously holding that this right does not extend to covert solicitation of current clients during active employment." ;
proeth:confidence "0.9" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "171" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-02T14:37:23.349304+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "171" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-02T14:37:23.349304+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The mobility right is real and protected, but it is bounded by the timing of departure and the current/former client distinction; the right does not license conduct that exploits the employment relationship against the employer's active interests." ;
proeth:invokedby "NSPE Board of Ethical Review" ;
proeth:principleclass "At-Will Employment Symmetry and Engineer Mobility Right" ;
proeth:sourcetext "We do not mean to suggest than an employee who severs all ties with the employer and then seeks to contact clients of the employer in order to offer engineering services is in violation of the Code. To the contrary, those were the facts of Case 77-11 and that case remains a proper interpretation of the Code." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "The Board resolved the tension by affirming Case 77-11's protection of post-departure mobility while carving out the pre-departure current-client solicitation scenario as a distinct and prohibited category." ;
proeth:textreferences "Nor do we wish to suggest any restraint exists upon one's absolute right to select in all cases, the engineer of one's choice.",
"To the contrary, those were the facts of Case 77-11 and that case remains a proper interpretation of the Code.",
"We do not mean to suggest than an employee who severs all ties with the employer and then seeks to contact clients of the employer in order to offer engineering services is in violation of the Code." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 171 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-02T14:51:15.289978"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 171 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
171
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-02T14:37:23.349304+00:00
First case
171
Generated
2026-03-02T14:37:23.349304+00:00
Attributed to
Case 171 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-02T14:51:15.289978
Generated by
ProEthica Case 171 Extraction