DP5

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

DP5

Should the Owner accept Engineer A's impartial adverse finding as the legitimate product of the contractual framework the Owner established and signed, or press the loyalty-based complaint demanding that Engineer A revise the finding in the Owner's favor?

The Owner, having read and signed a contract designating Engineer A as the impartial interpreter of contract documents and judge of work acceptability, must decide whether to accept the adverse impartial finding as the legitimate product of the contractual framework the Owner established, or to press the claim that Engineer A's loyalty obligation required a finding in the Owner's favor — a claim that, if accepted, would require Engineer A to commit an ethical violation.

Recognize that the impartial adverse finding is the legitimate product of the contractual framework the Owner established and signed, accept the ruling without pressing a loyalty-based complaint, and treat Engineer A's compliance with the impartial interpreter role as fulfillment rather than breach of the professional relationship.

Maintain the position that Engineer A's duty of loyalty required a finding in the Owner's favor, demand that Engineer A revise the determination, and treat the adverse ruling as evidence that Engineer A failed to properly weigh the Owner's interests as the retaining client in a close factual dispute.

Accept the adverse ruling as binding for this dispute while seeking to renegotiate or clarify the impartial interpreter provision in the contract going forward, on the grounds that the Owner did not fully appreciate at signing that the provision could produce findings adverse to the Owner's interests in disputes where the Owner believed it had the stronger position.

Owner