Case Study I: Obligations to Colleagues—Employment
Case Study II: Obligations to Colleagues/Copies of Your Work /Credit
Case Study III: Obligations to the Client—Scope of Services
Case Study IV: Obligations to the Public

Case Study I: Obligations to Colleagues—Employment

An expert in health-care projects (let's call her Carol) from the firm of Smith & Jones leaves that firm to join the firm of Black & White. Carol had been with Smith & Jones for more than 20 years, a time in which she developed her expertise. Black & White sees this as an opportunity to immediately become "experts" in the field of hospital design, an area they believe would supplement their existing practice.

At the initial meetings between Carol and Black & White, Carol indicated that, perhaps, she may be able to go back and contact some of the people she worked with at Smith & Jones and offer them jobs at Black & White. Carol indicated that of the eight people who worked on health-care projects that some or most of them would probably "jump ship" and follow her to the new firm. This was a selling point in her hiring and figured into the new firm making her an attractive offer.

Two weeks after she joined Black & White she contacts each of the eight people in her department at Smith & Jones and offers a 15 percent raise to any of them would move to Black & White. Five of the eight take her up on it and, within the next few weeks, they make the move to Black & White.

The firm of Smith & Jones is furious. For 20 years they had developed an expertise for health-care work which they no longer have and can no longer market. They feel violated and feel that both Carol and White & Black have been unethical. They bring the case to the AIA's National Ethics Council.

Questions:
• Did Carol act unethically? If she had been compensated for each employee she brought with her, would that have been unethical?

• What responsibility, if any, does Black & White have to Smith & Jones? Should they assist Carol in her efforts to bring others of her team on board?

• Can Smith & Jones still market health care design services as an expertise, even though only three, fairly junior staff remain from the health care "team"?

• Would it have made a difference if Carol had talked to her eight employees before she made the move or before she entered into negotiations with Black & White?

• What protection does a firm like Smith & Jones have to protect themselves from this happening?

• If you were one of the eight employees, what obligation do you have to your firm (Smith & Jones) of alerting them to the possibility of Carol leaving or that you had been contacted about your leaving?

Case Study II: Obligations to Colleagues/Copies of Your Work /Credit

You have worked for your current firm for just over six years and have been offered another position with a new firm. The new firm would offer more pay and allow you some new opportunities for growth. You accept the offer and inform your current employer that you are leaving in two weeks. Although you thought you were indispensable (we all think we are, no one is), they suggest you "clean out your desk" and leave. They agree to pay for your vacation time due but offer no other assistance.

During the six years you were with the firm, your role on projects ranged from drafter and CADD operator to project manager and project designer. You request copies of the photographs and renderings of your designs. The renderings were actually drawn by someone else but they show some of the projects (as yet un-built) in the best light. A professional photographer who still holds the copyright took the photographs of finished projects. The firm also produced some 3D, computer-generated, images of the project, a fly-through.

• You request copies of your work, to which you are entitled and the firm is obligated to provide. You must pay for the copies you request. However, the firm paid for the photography, the artist's renderings and the computer graphics. Are you entitled to get copies of them? Is the photographer obligated to give you copies of copyrighted photos?

• Some of the drawings you completed have been put in storage six miles away, filed badly and hard to find. The firm does not want you go rummaging through their dead files. Are you still entitled to copies of those drawings (assuming you care about work that old)?

• Since you know you are entitled to copies of your work, you have already made some copies of which the firm is not aware. Was it ethical to make those copies without permission?

• When you get to your new firm, can that firm use these photos/renderings in their marketing materials? Why or why not? Under what conditions could the new firm use these materials for marketing?

• How could your old firm control your use of the materials?

• Would it make any difference if you had been with your old firm just a few months instead of six years?

• Is the firm obligated to give you just "hard" copies of your computer-generated documents or should they be required to give you electronic versions of the documents?

• When at your new firm, can you use specialized, unique details from drawings you drew on projects at the new firm?

Case Study III: Obligations to the Client—Scope of Services

You have been asked to design a strip shopping center in your local community. The owner has done several similar projects but none quite this large before. Although you're not that excited about the project type, you recognize that it could be profitable and also offer some design opportunities. The client knows you because you designed his new home several years ago. You have a "familiar" relationship.

The owner's program calls for 34,000 square feet of retail space. You are hesitant to take on the job since most of your experience lies in residential projects. The client assures you that strip shopping centers are not difficult and, in fact, he will supply you with the drawings and specs from his previous projects to give you an idea of the project's complexity and requirements. The client also has in-house people to assist with cost estimating, material and system selections, bidding and negotiating with contractors, and project supervision. Their in-house people 'typically handle all the day-to-day work during construction - you won't be needed for any construction administration.

You do the work as programmed. Through your mechanical engineer, you use the mechanical systems your client has recommended. Your structural engineer relies on the soils test provided by your client. In fact, you do everything you were asked to do! And you have produced the drawings and specs within the fee you are paid.

When the project is put out to bid you find the costs exceed what the owner had anticipated by 40 percent. The client asks you to re-design the project to bring it in at budget but does not give you any specifics about what to cut. You tell him that the current construction climate is rampant with price escalation on materials, subcontractors, etc. and you cannot re-design the project without removing some building area, which he will not accept. He goes ahead and builds the project.

For the next two years there are problems with the mechanical systems. They have to constantly be repaired and, after two years, all the main air-handling units are replaced. Several of the concrete slabs display cracking. This is evident from cracks in the ceramic floor tile in the retail spaces—the cracks aren't substantial but the tenants are complaining.

• The client now brings a case against your firm for
• The cost of the re-design which you did not do
• The cost of the replacement of the air-handling units
• The cost of the replacement of the concrete slabs throughout the project
• Loss of revenue since, he claims, he can not charge market rents for spaces which have defective floors
• The cost of your entire fee since, he also claims, you took on a project for which you had no experience.

What costs do think you are responsible for? Let's assume the case is heard through arbitration and you are found not guilty of all the above items. Are any of these issues an ethical violation according to the AIA's Code of Ethics or are any violations of your state licensing board rules?

Case Study IV: Obligations to the Public

Your employer, a firm of 25, asks you to assist in putting together a major proposal for a new project for a government agency. The firm has been very successful in the past about obtaining new work so you are optimistic. The firm's has a fledgling marketing department made up of a technical writer and extensive, preprinted marketing materials.

In preparing the proposal, you pull resumes of various staff members from the file. The names of people you include in the proposal are some of the typical ones the firm uses—essentially all four partners and two of the four project managers within the firm. You also pull standard project sheets, which are glossy, pre-printed sheets which show photographs of past projects and give detailed project descriptions.

You draft the cover letter that states the firm's commitment to this proposed project and assures the prospective client of your ability to deliver the project on budget and on time.

You are concerned about a number of issues:
• One of the partners lists a university degree that he, in fact, did not receive. You question him on this. Shocked at the "typo," he assures you that new materials will be printed up but, since there is no time for that printing now, "please just use the existing resume."

• Several of the projects sheets show projects that were designed by current firm's employees and partners while they were associated with other firms. When pressed, your boss says that you should definitely include a separate sheet in the back of the proposal to detail the employees'/partners' roles in those projects and to give credit to the previous firms. Some projects were completed entirely by employees who have since left the firm.

• In your judgment, and since the firm is extremely busy, you have serious doubts about the firm's ability to commit the team you are proposing and complete the work within the stated time frame. Again, the partner in charge of the project assures you that this is a very typical approach since only about 25 percent of the proposals prepared result in a real project.

• The RFP states that there is a goal of 15 percent for minority involvement on the design team. You include, with approval from the principal-in-charge, a structural engineering firm that is minority owned. Your firm has never used this firm before but they are highly qualified. The principal-in-charge offhandedly and good-naturedly jokes with you (at the office picnic) that just because you list someone in a proposal doesn't mean you're actually going to use them—and, anyway, minority participation is just a "goal," not a requirement.

For each of these situations, what should you do? What are you required to do? What options are open to you? What ethical violations are involved, if any?

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.