DP5

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

DP5

After the moratorium elapses, should Engineer A represent his elevated storage tank funding work as a specific credential in soliciting Clover City's tank design contract, or must he limit his competitive representations to general professional experience in water treatment infrastructure without referencing the proprietary content of the ABC-funded report?

After Engineer A departs and the one-year moratorium elapses, he solicits and receives from Clover City both a retainer and the elevated storage tank design contract — work that was effectively pre-signaled to him before his departure. The post-employment confidential information non-use prohibition establishes that Engineer A may not exploit proprietary content from the ABC water treatment report as a competitive credential. The question is whether Engineer A's use of the specific technical outputs, client-specific data, and relationships from the ABC engagement in his post-departure solicitations crosses the line from permissible general professional experience into impermissible exploitation of employer-funded work product.

Represent to Clover City that Engineer A has general experience in water treatment infrastructure and elevated storage tank design developed during prior employment at ABC, without referencing the specific technical content, client-specific data, or proprietary methodologies from the ABC-funded report as independent credentials.

Represent the elevated storage tank funding analysis as a specific project credential in soliciting the tank design contract, treating the work as part of Engineer A's professional portfolio given that no separate contract existed between ABC and Clover City for the tank work and the initiative was Engineer A's own professional contribution.

Before referencing any work performed during ABC employment in solicitations to Clover City, seek ABC's consent to use the water treatment report and tank funding analysis as credentials — treating the work product as jointly attributable and requiring ABC's authorization before Engineer A deploys it competitively against ABC's interests.

Engineer A