Faithful Agent Obligation Invoked in Complaint Non-Disclosure Analysis
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/147#Faithful_Agent_Obligation_Invoked_in_Complaint_Non-Disclosure_Analysis
Properties
Instance of
FaithfulAgentObligationWithinEthicalLimits
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#FaithfulAgentObligationWithinEthicalLimits
Applied to
Engineer A's ongoing service relationship with Client B during pending ethics complaint
Balancing with
Allegation-Adjudication Distinction in Disclosure Obligation
Personal Privacy Right in Professional Self-Disclosure
Concrete expression
The Board acknowledges that Engineer A's faithful agent and trustee obligation to Client B is a relevant ethical duty but holds that this obligation does not automatically compel disclosure of a pending ethics complaint — because the complaint is a mere allegation, not a finding — while still recommending that Engineer A consider providing background information in service of the faithful agent relationship.
Confidence
0.93
Importance
high
Interpretation
The faithful agent obligation requires transparency about material professional circumstances, but its scope is calibrated by the evidentiary status of the information: unproven allegations do not automatically become material facts that the faithful agent must disclose, though the faithful agent relationship may counsel prudential disclosure.
Invoked by
Engineer A Ethics Complaint Non-Disclosing Engineer
Tension resolution
The Board holds that faithful agent obligations do not override the engineer's right to protect against disclosure of potentially false, baseless, or maliciously motivated allegations, but that the faithful agent relationship is best served by prudential voluntary disclosure.
Source Evidence
Source text
The Board is of the opinion that while an engineer clearly has an ethical obligation to act as a faithful agent and trustee for the benefit of a client, avoid deceptive acts, be objective and truthful, avoid conflicts, etc., such obligations would not compel an engineer to automatically disclose that a complaint had been filed against the engineer with the state engineering licensure board.
Text references
The Board is of the opinion that while an engineer clearly has an ethical obligation to act as a faithful agent and trustee for the benefit of a client, avoid deceptive acts, be objective and truthful, avoid conflicts, etc., such obligations would not compel an engineer to automatically disclose that a complaint had been filed against the engineer with the state engineering licensure board.
TTL
@prefix case147: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/147#> .
@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#> .
case147:Faithful_Agent_Obligation_Invoked_in_Complaint_Non-Disclosure_Analysis a proeth:FaithfulAgentObligationWithinEthicalLimits,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Faithful Agent Obligation Invoked in Complaint Non-Disclosure Analysis" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer A's ongoing service relationship with Client B during pending ethics complaint" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Allegation-Adjudication Distinction in Disclosure Obligation",
"Personal Privacy Right in Professional Self-Disclosure" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The Board acknowledges that Engineer A's faithful agent and trustee obligation to Client B is a relevant ethical duty but holds that this obligation does not automatically compel disclosure of a pending ethics complaint — because the complaint is a mere allegation, not a finding — while still recommending that Engineer A consider providing background information in service of the faithful agent relationship." ;
proeth:confidence "0.93" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "147" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T07:44:46.199444+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "147" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T07:44:46.199444+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The faithful agent obligation requires transparency about material professional circumstances, but its scope is calibrated by the evidentiary status of the information: unproven allegations do not automatically become material facts that the faithful agent must disclose, though the faithful agent relationship may counsel prudential disclosure." ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer A Ethics Complaint Non-Disclosing Engineer" ;
proeth:principleclass "Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits" ;
proeth:sourcetext "The Board is of the opinion that while an engineer clearly has an ethical obligation to act as a faithful agent and trustee for the benefit of a client, avoid deceptive acts, be objective and truthful, avoid conflicts, etc., such obligations would not compel an engineer to automatically disclose that a complaint had been filed against the engineer with the state engineering licensure board." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "The Board holds that faithful agent obligations do not override the engineer's right to protect against disclosure of potentially false, baseless, or maliciously motivated allegations, but that the faithful agent relationship is best served by prudential voluntary disclosure." ;
proeth:textreferences "The Board is of the opinion that while an engineer clearly has an ethical obligation to act as a faithful agent and trustee for the benefit of a client, avoid deceptive acts, be objective and truthful, avoid conflicts, etc., such obligations would not compel an engineer to automatically disclose that a complaint had been filed against the engineer with the state engineering licensure board." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 147 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T07:56:55.814631"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 147 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
147
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T07:44:46.199444+00:00
First case
147
Generated
2026-03-01T07:44:46.199444+00:00
Attributed to
Case 147 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T07:56:55.814631
Generated by
ProEthica Case 147 Extraction