Engineer's Disclosure of Potential Conflict

of Interest

CE 480

Anderson, an engineer, is retained by the State to conduct a study regarding the construction of a highway spur. The State is considering building the spur in an area next to Anderson's neighborhood. Upon learning this, Anderson advises the State that his home is near the proposed project, and that this could represent a conflict of interest. The State retains Anderson's services anyway. Anderson conducts the study and ultimately recommends the construction of the highway spur. The spur is constructed.

(1) Is there a danger that Anderson's recommendation may have been biased?

(2) Did the State act appropriately after Anderson's disclosure?

(3) Despite the disclosure, was there still a conflict of interest?

(4) Was Anderson morally required to do more than disclose the potential conflict of interest?

Definitions

BIAS

An inclination that influences judgment. The term "bias" may be used in a merely descriptive way to mean an inclination, but more often it is used as a term of evaluation to mean an inclination that inflluences judgment and ought not to. "Prejudice" is a synonym for bias in this pejorative sense. However, bias that cannot be completely eliminated in the work of scientific investigators, in contrast to bias or prejudicce that can and should be eliminated, is also an important topic in research ethics. For example, the way disciplinary training inclines people to interpret the results of an experiment in terms of the established categories of that discipline is a feature of research, and one that must be taken into account in assessing responsible behavior in research. Since undertaking research requires undergoing advanced training in a discipline, it is impossible to eliminate all preconceptions from one's interpretation of the data. Of course, researchers may hold disciplinary biases and still be unbiased in other respects. For exmample, they may be impartial on the question of the truth or falsity of a particular research hypothesis.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

A person has a conflict of interest when the person is in a position of trust which requires her to exercise judgment on behalf of others (people, institutions, etc.) and also has interests or obligations of the sort that might interfere with the exercise of her judgment, and which the person is morally required to either avoid or openly acknowledge. (The lesser requirement of open acknowledgment is usually adopted when it seems to burdensome to require the person in a position of trust to divest herself of the interest that conflicts with her position of responsibility. For example, some journals require that authors disclose any substantive financial interests that might have biased their research assessment. Requiring investigators to divest themselves of investments they may have made on the basis of their scientific judgment would be too burdensome, and might even suppress publication.)

Dictionary definitions frequently apply the term only to conflicts between a person's private interests and those of a public office the person holds, and by extension with that person's professional obligations and responsibilities. However, there can also be conflicts of interest in which private interests do not enter. For example, the American Bar Association specifies as part of a general rule on conflict of interest that "A lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation of that client may be materially limited by the lawyer's responsibilities to another client or to a third party, or by the lawyer's own interests, unless: 1)the lawyer reasonably believes the representation will not be adversely affected, and 2)the client consents after consultation. When representation of multiple clients in a single matter is undertakem, the consultation shall include explanation of the implications of the common representation and the advantages and risks involved."ABA, 1989

There is no similar rule requiring engineers or engineering firms to avoid, say, building manufacturing facilities for, or supplying parts to, two companies that directly compete in the same market, although the engineering firm might need to be especially careful to avoid disclosing the proprietary information of one company to the other. This example illustrates the point that one needs to look carefully at the nature of a professional's or a public official's obligations and responsibilities in order to know when conflicting interests become a conflict of interest, that is, when a situation that requires discretion to handle the actual or potential conflict fairly is one that he is morally required to avoid altogether, or at least to disclose to all parties.

A policy requiring financial disclosure, that is, disclosure of financial interests that might conflict with judgment as a researcher or as a public official, is very commonly called a "conflict of interest policy," although such financial conflict of interest is only one specific type.