Disclosing a Conflict of Interest
The conflict of interest case examines whether disclosure is enough when an engineer’s professional judgment could appear to be influenced by another business relationship. Engineer A works as the town engineer for Edgetown while the Edgetown Planning Board is reviewing a project proposed by ABC Development Enterprises. At the same time, Engineer A is also working for ABC on a separate, unrelated project in another town. The main ethical question is whether Engineer A can fairly advise Edgetown on ABC’s project while also having ABC as a private client. The NSPE Board of Ethical Review concluded that Engineer A may report his views to the Edgetown Planning Board only if he first discloses his relationship with ABC. This case highlights why conflicts of interest are not always automatically disqualifying, but they must be openly disclosed so clients, public officials, and the public can judge whether the engineer’s advice remains trustworthy.