Personal Privacy Right Invoked in BER 19-1 Autism Disclosure Analysis
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/130#Personal_Privacy_Right_Invoked_in_BER_19-1_Autism_Disclosure_Analysis
Properties
Instance of
PersonalPrivacyRightinProfessionalSelf-Disclosure
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#PersonalPrivacyRightinProfessionalSelf-Disclosure
Applied to
Pre-employment disclosure decision regarding autism/Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis
Balancing with
Honesty in Professional Representations
Omission Materiality Threshold in Professional Disclosure
Pre-Employment Qualification Disclosure Obligation
Concrete expression
The Board held in BER 19-1 that Engineer A's non-disclosure of his autism/Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis to a prospective employer was ethically permissible because the NSPE Code does not compel disclosure of personal medical conditions, and Engineer A retained a personal right to privacy
Confidence
0.91
Importance
high
Interpretation
A personal medical condition, even one potentially relevant to an employer's preferences, falls within the engineer's protected personal privacy sphere and does not constitute a material professional qualification fact requiring disclosure under the NSPE Code
Invoked by
Engineer A BER 19-1 PE Exam Disclosure Engineer Intern
Tension resolution
The Board resolved in favor of privacy, finding no deception, falsification, misrepresentation, or compromise of honesty standards — the engineer simply did not volunteer a personal fact he was not obligated to disclose
Source Evidence
Source text
In BER Case 19-1, Engineer A failed to disclose a medical condition from fear of discrimination by the employer. The engineer did not lie, falsify statements, compromise the highest standards of honesty or integrity, or misrepresent his qualifications prior to his obtaining employment, but he stopped short of pointing out that he had autism, more specifically, Asperger's Syndrome.
Text references
Engineer A failed to disclose a medical condition from fear of discrimination by the employer
The Board found that although Engineer A was free to disclose his autism, the NSPE Code of Ethics does not compel disclosure
The engineer did not lie, falsify statements, compromise the highest standards of honesty or integrity, or misrepresent his qualifications prior to his obtaining employment, but he stopped short of pointing out that he had autism, more specifically, Asperger's Syndrome
the Board found that Engineer A had a personal right to privacy
TTL
@prefix case130: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/130#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case130:Personal_Privacy_Right_Invoked_in_BER_19-1_Autism_Disclosure_Analysis a proeth:PersonalPrivacyRightinProfessionalSelf-Disclosure,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Personal Privacy Right Invoked in BER 19-1 Autism Disclosure Analysis" ;
proeth:appliedto "Pre-employment disclosure decision regarding autism/Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Honesty in Professional Representations",
"Omission Materiality Threshold in Professional Disclosure",
"Pre-Employment Qualification Disclosure Obligation" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The Board held in BER 19-1 that Engineer A's non-disclosure of his autism/Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis to a prospective employer was ethically permissible because the NSPE Code does not compel disclosure of personal medical conditions, and Engineer A retained a personal right to privacy" ;
proeth:confidence "0.91" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "130" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-26T09:34:16.217711+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "130" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-26T09:34:16.217711+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "A personal medical condition, even one potentially relevant to an employer's preferences, falls within the engineer's protected personal privacy sphere and does not constitute a material professional qualification fact requiring disclosure under the NSPE Code" ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer A BER 19-1 PE Exam Disclosure Engineer Intern" ;
proeth:principleclass "Personal Privacy Right in Professional Self-Disclosure" ;
proeth:sourcetext "In BER Case 19-1, Engineer A failed to disclose a medical condition from fear of discrimination by the employer. The engineer did not lie, falsify statements, compromise the highest standards of honesty or integrity, or misrepresent his qualifications prior to his obtaining employment, but he stopped short of pointing out that he had autism, more specifically, Asperger's Syndrome." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "The Board resolved in favor of privacy, finding no deception, falsification, misrepresentation, or compromise of honesty standards — the engineer simply did not volunteer a personal fact he was not obligated to disclose" ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer A failed to disclose a medical condition from fear of discrimination by the employer",
"The Board found that although Engineer A was free to disclose his autism, the NSPE Code of Ethics does not compel disclosure",
"The engineer did not lie, falsify statements, compromise the highest standards of honesty or integrity, or misrepresent his qualifications prior to his obtaining employment, but he stopped short of pointing out that he had autism, more specifically, Asperger's Syndrome",
"the Board found that Engineer A had a personal right to privacy" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 130 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-26T09:45:01.255870"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 130 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
130
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-02-26T09:34:16.217711+00:00
First case
130
Generated
2026-02-26T09:34:16.217711+00:00
Attributed to
Case 130 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-26T09:45:01.255870
Generated by
ProEthica Case 130 Extraction