A Client Called a CPA at Her Home One Evening

question 37

Multiple Choice

A client called a CPA at her home one evening to discuss an urgent matter.The client called at a time when the CPA was eating dinner with her family.Due to the unexpected and potentially urgent nature of the call,the CPA answered the phone call while sitting at the dinner table.As a consequence,some of the CPA's family members overheard key aspects of the phone call.Did the CPA violate the duty of confidentiality?

• A) No, because the client reasonably should have known that the CPA was not conducting business from her office
• B) No, because the client had a reasonable expectation that a call to a CPA's house after business hours might be overheard
• C) Yes, because CPAs are specifically warned to guard against inadvertent disclosures in social settings
• D) Yes, even though a CPA's immediate family members are subject to the same duty of confidentiality that applies to the CPA herself