Confidentiality Non-Applicability — Imminent Structural Danger to Tenants
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/136#Confidentiality_Non-Applicability_—_Imminent_Structural_Danger_to_Tenants
Properties
Instance of
ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure
Applied to
Engineer A's obligation to disclose imminent structural defects to tenants and public authorities despite attorney confidentiality instruction
Balancing with
Attorney-Directed Confidentiality Non-Override of Imminent Structural Safety Disclosure
Confidentiality Principle
Concrete expression
The Board concludes that Engineer A's confidentiality obligation to the attorney-client does not bar disclosure of the imminent structural danger to tenants and public authorities, because the public danger exception to confidentiality applies — the engineer not only has the right but the ethical responsibility to reveal such facts to the proper persons.
Confidence
0.97
Importance
high
Interpretation
Professional confidentiality obligations do not bar engineers from advising proper authorities of apparent danger to the public; in this case, the imminent structural danger to tenants falls squarely within the public danger exception, making disclosure not merely permissible but obligatory.
Invoked by
Board of Ethical Review
Tension resolution
The public danger exception to confidentiality is activated by the imminent structural threat; the confidentiality obligation yields entirely to the public safety disclosure obligation when the danger is immediate and the affected parties (tenants) are identifiable.
Source Evidence
Source text
We believe that in cases where the public health and safety is endangered, engineers not only have the right but also the ethical responsibility to reveal such facts to the proper persons.
Text references
Engineer A, having become aware of the imminent danger to the structure, had an obligation to make absolutely certain that the tenants and public authorities were made immediately aware of the dangers that existed.
We believe that in cases where the public health and safety is endangered, engineers not only have the right but also the ethical responsibility to reveal such facts to the proper persons.
TTL
@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#> .
<http://proethica.org/ontology/case/136#Confidentiality_Non-Applicability_—_Imminent_Structural_Danger_to_Tenants> a proeth:ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Confidentiality Non-Applicability — Imminent Structural Danger to Tenants" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer A's obligation to disclose imminent structural defects to tenants and public authorities despite attorney confidentiality instruction" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Attorney-Directed Confidentiality Non-Override of Imminent Structural Safety Disclosure",
"Confidentiality Principle" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The Board concludes that Engineer A's confidentiality obligation to the attorney-client does not bar disclosure of the imminent structural danger to tenants and public authorities, because the public danger exception to confidentiality applies — the engineer not only has the right but the ethical responsibility to reveal such facts to the proper persons." ;
proeth:confidence "0.97" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "136" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T13:03:31.215609+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "136" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T13:03:31.215609+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "Professional confidentiality obligations do not bar engineers from advising proper authorities of apparent danger to the public; in this case, the imminent structural danger to tenants falls squarely within the public danger exception, making disclosure not merely permissible but obligatory." ;
proeth:invokedby "Board of Ethical Review" ;
proeth:principleclass "Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure" ;
proeth:sourcetext "We believe that in cases where the public health and safety is endangered, engineers not only have the right but also the ethical responsibility to reveal such facts to the proper persons." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "The public danger exception to confidentiality is activated by the imminent structural threat; the confidentiality obligation yields entirely to the public safety disclosure obligation when the danger is immediate and the affected parties (tenants) are identifiable." ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer A, having become aware of the imminent danger to the structure, had an obligation to make absolutely certain that the tenants and public authorities were made immediately aware of the dangers that existed.",
"We believe that in cases where the public health and safety is endangered, engineers not only have the right but also the ethical responsibility to reveal such facts to the proper persons." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 136 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T13:14:37.526096"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 136 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
136
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T13:03:31.215609+00:00
First case
136
Generated
2026-03-01T13:03:31.215609+00:00
Attributed to
Case 136 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T13:14:37.526096
Generated by
ProEthica Case 136 Extraction