THE DISCIPLINE FILE
Case No. 17-003-RDO continued
money back to [Company B] on February 13, 2015, however he missed the payment deadline, resulting in a civil claim by [Company B]. The civil claim has been settled. 18. The Member acknowledges that he should have been more objective under the circumstances, and sought outside assistance prior to redirecting payments from [Company B] to [Company C]. 19. The Member acknowledges that he should have taken additional steps to notify [Company B] of his intentions. 20. The Member acknowledges that his company [Company C] was practising without a valid Permit to Practice from APEGA. 21. The Member expressed his desire to enter into a Recommended Order. 22. The Panel acknowledges that the Member cooperated fully with the APEGA investigation, and conducted himself professionally throughout the investigation process. C. CONDUCT The Member freely and voluntarily admits that he engaged in unprofessional conduct that contravened Section 44(1) (b) of the Act and Rule of Conduct #3 and #4. D. SECTION 44(1) OF THE ACT AND THE CODE OF ETHICS 1. Section 44(1) of the Act states in part: Any conduct of a professional member, licensee, permit holder, certificate holder or member-in-training that in the opinion of the Discipline Committee or the Appeal Board… b. contravenes a code of ethics of the profession as established under the regulations; … whether or not that conduct is disgraceful or dishonourable, constitutes either unskilled practice of the profession or unprofessional conduct, whichever the Discipline Committee or the Appeal Board finds. 2. Applicable Rules of the APEGA Code of Ethics state: 3 Professional engineers, geologists and geophysicists shall conduct themselves with integrity, honesty, fairness and objectivity in their professional activities. 4 Professional engineers, geologists and geophysicists shall comply with applicable statutes, regulations and bylaws in their professional practices.
were previous clients of [Company C]. [Company B Drilling and Completions] contractors were on- site performing work for both [Company E and Company F]. These contractors invoiced [Company B Drilling and Completions] and were eventually paid by [Company B Drilling and Completions]. 10.The Member was terminated by [Company B Drilling and Completions] on December 9, 2014. At the time of his termination, he reverted to operating under [Company C]. At the time of his termination, the Member was engaged in a dispute with [Company B] over his wages. The amount of unpaid wages in dispute was $42,782.40. The Member has since filed a claim against [Company B] with Alberta Employment Standards. 11. In December 2014, [Company B] invoiced [Company E] ($53,109.00) and [Company F] ($4,393.20). When the invoices weren’t paid, in January 2015 [Company B] followed-up with the clients who confirmed they paid [Company C] instead: [Company B] invoices were “voided” on instruction of the Member, and replaced with invoices from [Company C]. 12.Both [Company E and Company F] paid the [Company C] invoices on instruction of the Member. 13. The Member instructed [Company E and Company F] to pay [Company C] rather than [Company B] as contractors raised concerns to the Member about non-payment by [Company B]. The Member contacted [Company B] by email on December 19, 2014 to inquire about payment status to the contractors; [Company B] did not respond. 14. The Member did not provide [Company B] notice of his intent to invoice the clients directly. 15. The Member did not seek advice from legal counsel, nor did he seek advice from another professional/ mentor, before implementing this solution. 16. In February 2015 [Company B] confirmed to the Member that [Company B] did indeed pay the [Company E and Company F] contractors. The Member advised [Company B] that he ([Company C]) invoiced [Company E and Company F] and received payment. 17. The Member agrees that the money he collected
from [Company E and Company F] rightfully belongs to [Company B]; he agreed to pay the
74 | PEG SUMMER 2017
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