Consider this ethical situation:

Engineer A is licensed as a professional engineer in State B, the state in which Engineer A resides. Engineer A is about to retire from his full-time employment with ENG Co. As part of this transition and since Engineer A will no longer be engaged in the practice of engineering under his states law, Engineer A plans to discontinue his professional engineering license, which was paid for by his former employer.

Engineer A plans to continue to serve on several local governmental boards. Because of his association with and the pride he has for engineering, Engineer A would like to continue to use the designation P.E. after his name on his board business card and on the boards letterhead. Engineer A takes pride in his long standing status as a professional engineer and believes he will give professional engineering added recognition by including the reference on the letterhead, which includes other individuals such as attorneys and architects. State B does not have a provision in its law that addresses the issue of inactive status.

Question: Would it be ethical for Engineer A to continue to use the designation P.E. after his name, even though Engineer A is no longer licensed as a professional engineer in State B? Back up your response to this case with a well-reasoned response. Your response should be a few sentences to a couple of paragraphs. Cite the NSPE Code of Ethics in your decision process.