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Crimes and misdemeanors: Part one Campaign finance laws, bid rigging, price fixing, and bribery. We hear about this with contractors, but how about design professionals?
S everal times each year, there is an article about some contractor being debarred or convicted of bid rigging, bribery, or kick-back schemes. We turn the page, shake our heads, and wonder why those contractors are so unethical. But is it just contractors who break the law on ethics? How about design professionals? It is rare for criminal charges to be filed against them, but it does happen, and more often than you would expect. Here are a few laws and related cases that will send chills down your spine, as they should, and would make an excellent training session at your next lunch-and-learn about what “not to do.”
William Quatman
CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS. AIA’s ethical Rule 2.102 prohibits bribery by members “with the intent of influencing the official’s judgment in connection with an existing or prospective project,” followed by Rule 2.103, which bars members serving in a public capacity from accepting payments or gifts “which are intended to influence their judgment.” The official commentary notes that these rules do not prohibit campaign contributions made in
conformity with applicable campaign financing laws. However, those rules are sometimes bro- ken. Take for example a 2008 case in which three top executives of a large engineering firm were charged with violating campaign finance laws. The firm’s chairman and chief operating officer pled guilty to paying a gratuity to influence
See WILLIAM QUATMAN, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER January 23, 2017, ISSUE 1184
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