Becoming an engineer takes an extreme amount of time, hard work and intellect. Don’t let that all disappear with a disciplinary action. There are 4 big buckets of potential consequences of an engineering disciplinary action.
Reputation
This may be obvious but it is more important to some than others. Due to the public nature of disciplinary charges, facing disciplinary action, even if the action is dismissed, can damage an engineer’s reputation in the community and the industry. For a national expert, this could affect their desirability for consulting on projects. In small towns, word can travel fast and severely blemish a reputation.
There are some ways we can approach a case to mitigate the damage to reputation, if that is the top priority for a client. For others, this, while important, is a lesser priority and we may focus on one of the other potential consequences.
License Restrictions
With disciplinary action, an engineer may be facing license suspension, revocation, or probation, which certainly impacts the engineer’s employment, business, and ability to participate in public contracts. If your license is at risk, it’s important to consider all of the collateral consequences that can come with losing your license, temporarily or permanently.
There may be ways to mitigate the effect of license discipline and ability to practice. If this is a consequence you are facing, we can talk you through all of your options, the pros and cons of each action we take and help guide you to a desired resolution.
Business
If you own a business, disciplinary action could affect your business. If you lose your license, you may lose your business, which could affect your current and future financial situation – it could also affect your employees.
There may be ways to mitigate the damage to your business depending on your priorities. If your priority is to protect your employees, we can look into options to save the business despite the disciplinary action. We can pursue similar options to prevent economic damage as a result of the disciplinary action.
Livelihood
Livelihood is a common top priority for our clients. You may have a family to care for, be ready for retirement or be planning for a family. Losing your license or your business could mean you lose your regular income. Depending on your situation, we may be able to sell a business to provide a cushion or we may fight to maintain your license to maintain your income level. This is always a conversation we have with clients and we ensure our clients understand this collateral consequence to any disciplinary action.
At Simas & Associates, we work with our clients to determine their top priorities. We then fashion a plan around those priorities. For some, it may be mitigating damage to their reputation; for others, it may be saving their business; while for others their focus is on maintaining their license. An example may be accepting a probationary period for a license in exchange for working under the guidance of another licensed engineer. Another person, particularly someone close to retirement, may be willing to surrender their license and close their business in order to mitigate the damage.
We focus on you. Facing an engineering disciplinary action? Give us a call today for your consultation.