Final answer:
The statement is false; a breach of the duty of care is a general legal concept of failing to exercise reasonable care, which can lead to negligence. While ethical violations can involve issues of duty of care within professional standards, duty of care breaches can also occur outside the realm of professional ethics.
Step-by-step explanation:
A breach of the duty of care is generally understood as a failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in a similar situation. This involves negligence, which could lead to harm or damage to another party.
However, the statement associating a breach of the duty of care exclusively with a failure to conform to the code of ethics of a professional organization is not accurate.
Breaches of duty of care can occur outside the bounds of professional ethical standards and relate to general legal standards of care as well. In a professional context, ethical violations can indeed involve breaches of a professional code, which covers a wide array of responsibilities including, but not limited to, honesty, fidelity, non-maleficence, and social responsibility.
For instance, the IEEE-CS adopted a Software Engineering Code of Ethics that sets forth the duty to deliver safe and reliable software, which if breached, could be both an ethical and professional negligence. Also, businesses typically establish codes of ethics that outline permissible behavior, with the intention to align with societal values, laws and regulations on bribery, discrimination, environmental practices, and more.
It is important to note that a breach of these codes may represent ethical misconduct within the profession, and could also result in legal consequences if the behavior violates laws or harms others.