CASE STUDY NO.

1
ENGINEER MISSTATING PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS ON RESUME
Engineer A is seeking employment with Employer Y. As an employee for Employer X,
Engineer A was a staff engineer along with five other staff engineers of equal rank.
This team of six was responsible for the design of certain products. While working
for Employer X, Engineer A along with five other engineers in his team participated
in and was credited with the design of a series of patented products.
Engineer A submits his resume to Employer Y and on it implies that he personally
was responsible for the design of products which were actually designed through a
joint effort of the members of the team.
Question:
Was it ethical for Engineer A to imply on his resume that he was personally
responsible for the design of the products which were actually designed through the
joint efforts of the members of the design team?

CASE STUDY NO.2

SIGNING AND SEALING PLANS NOT PREPARED BY ENGINEER
Engineer A is the Chief Engineer within a large engineering firm, and affixes his
seal to some of the plans prepared by registered engineers working under his
general direction who do not affix their seals to the plans. At times Engineer A also
seals plans prepared by non-registered, graduate engineers working under his
general supervision. Because of the size of the organization and the large number of
projects being designed at any one time, Engineer A finds it impossible to give a
detailed review or check of the design. He believes he is ethically and legally correct
in not doing so because of his confidence in the ability of those he has hired and
who are working under his general direction and supervision. By general direction
and supervision, Engineer A means that he is involved in helping to establish the
concept, the design requirements, and review elements of the design or project
status as the design progresses. Engineer A is consulted about technical questions
and he provides answers and direction in these matters.
Question:
Is it ethical for Engineer A to seal plans that have not been prepared by
him, or which he has not checked and reviewed in detail?

CASE STUDY NO. 3

PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL SOCIETIES- ETICAL DUTY
OF EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
Engineer A has been employed by an organization for more than 20 years.
During his early years of employment he was encouraged by his superiors to join
and participate in the activities of both a technical society and a professional
society. Within those societies, Engineer A held several board and committee
positions, of which, entry into the key positions was approved by his superiors. He
presently holds a committee position. Engineer A's immediate superior, Engineer B,
opposes Engineer A's participation in activities of his professional society on any
other than annual leave basis, although existing organization rules encourage the
use of excused leave for such purposes. It is Engineer B's view that such
participation does not result in "benefits for the employer"; he feels that such
participation does not constitute "employee training." Engineer B has refused to
permit written communications from Engineer A asking for administrative leave to
attend professional society meetings to go through Engineer B to higher level
personnel. When summoned by the chief executive officer (CEO) on another matter,
Engineer A took the opportunity to ask his opinion of attendance and participation
in technical and professional society meetings by his engineers. The CEO reaffirmed
the organization policy. When Engineer A prepared a travel request to go through
his superior, Engineer B, to the CEO, Engineer B refused to forward the travel
request and told Engineer A that he did not appreciate Engineer A's going over his
head to discuss attendance and participation in technical and professional societies
with his superior.

Questions:
1. Was it ethical for Engineer A to discuss attendance and participation in
technical and professional societies with the CEO without first notifying his superior?
2. Was it ethical for Engineer B to hinder Engineer A's efforts to obtain excused
leave in order to attend technical and professional society meetings?

CASE STUDY NO. 5

ENGINEERS DISPUTE WITH CLIENT OVER DESIGN
Client hires Engineer A to design a particular project. Engineer A develops what
he believes to be the best design and meets with the client to discuss the design.
After discussing the design plans and specifications, the client and Engineer A are
involved in a dispute concerning the ultimate success of the project. The client
believes Engineer A's design is too large and complex and seeks a simpler solution
to the project. Engineer A believes a simpler solution will not achieve the result and
could endanger the public. The client demands that Engineer A deliver over to him
the drawings so that he can present them to Engineer B to assist Engineer B in
completing the project to his liking. The client is willing to pay for the drawings,
plans, specifications, and preparation but will not pay until Engineer A delivers over
the drawings. Engineer A refuses to deliver the drawings.
Question:
Would it be ethical for Engineer A to deliver over the plans and specifications
to the client?

CASE STUDY NO. 6

ENGINEER SERVING ON PRIVATE HOSPITAL BOARD AND PERFORMING
SERVICES
A county hospital board owns a hospital facility and contracts with a private
health care provider to manage, administer, and generally operate a hospital
facility. Engineer A, a principal in a local engineering firm, serves on the board of
directors of the private health care provider. Certain engineering and surveying
work will need to be performed at the hospital facility. Engineer A seeks and
receives a contract from the private health care provider to perform the engineering
and surveying work at the hospital. The decision to select Engineer A's firm was
made by the private health care provider's board of directors and Engineer A
participated in the decision.

Question:

Was it ethical for Engineer A to seek a contract with the private health care
provider to perform the engineering and surveying services at the hospital?

CASE STUDY NO. 4

GIFTS FOR ENGINEERS
Engineers A, B, and C are principals or employees of a consulting engineering
firm which does an extensive amount of design work for private developers. The
engineers are involved in recommending to the developers a list of contractors and
suppliers to be considered for selection on a bidding list for construction of the
projects. Usually, the contractors and suppliers recommended by the engineers for
the selected bidding list obtain most of the contracts from the developers. Over a
period of years the officers of the contractors or suppliers developed a close
business and personal relationship with the engineers of the firm.
From time to time, at holidays or on birthdays of the engineers with whom
they dealt, the contractors and suppliers would give Engineers A, B, and C personal
gifts of substantial value, such as home furnishings, recreational equipment,
gardening equipment, etc.

Question:

Was it ethical for Engineers A, B, and C to accept gifts from the contractors
and suppliers?