Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure — Hazardous Waste Context
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/149#Confidentiality_Non-Applicability_to_Public_Danger_Disclosure_—_Hazardous_Waste_Context
Properties
Instance of
ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure
Applied to
Potential confidentiality argument for not notifying regulatory authorities about likely hazardous waste
Balancing with
Client Loyalty
Confidentiality
Concrete expression
Any confidentiality obligation Engineer B might invoke with respect to the client's property conditions does not bar notification of proper federal and state authorities regarding the likely presence of hazardous waste, because such disclosure serves the public welfare purpose of environmental protection law and does not constitute protected confidential information in the relevant ethical sense.
Confidence
0.89
Importance
high
Interpretation
Confidentiality cannot shield from regulatory authorities the existence of conditions that trigger mandatory legal reporting obligations; the principle establishes that public danger disclosure is not barred by professional confidentiality.
Invoked by
Engineer B Hazardous Waste Supervisor
Tension resolution
Confidentiality non-applicability to public danger disclosure resolves the tension in favor of regulatory notification; the client's business confidentiality interest does not override mandatory hazardous waste reporting obligations.
Source Evidence
Source text
If the material is hazardous waste, Technician A knows that certain steps would legally have to be taken to transport and properly dispose of the drum including notifying the proper federal and state authorities.
Text references
Engineer B tells Technician A that since the client does other business with the firm, Engineer B will tell the client where the drums are located but do nothing else.
If the material is hazardous waste, Technician A knows that certain steps would legally have to be taken to transport and properly dispose of the drum including notifying the proper federal and state authorities.
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/149#Confidentiality_Non-Applicability_to_Public_Danger_Disclosure_—_Hazardous_Waste_Context> a proeth:ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure — Hazardous Waste Context" ;
proeth:appliedto "Potential confidentiality argument for not notifying regulatory authorities about likely hazardous waste" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Client Loyalty",
"Confidentiality" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Any confidentiality obligation Engineer B might invoke with respect to the client's property conditions does not bar notification of proper federal and state authorities regarding the likely presence of hazardous waste, because such disclosure serves the public welfare purpose of environmental protection law and does not constitute protected confidential information in the relevant ethical sense." ;
proeth:confidence "0.89" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "149" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "facts" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T12:17:34.345863+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "149" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T12:17:34.345863+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "Confidentiality cannot shield from regulatory authorities the existence of conditions that trigger mandatory legal reporting obligations; the principle establishes that public danger disclosure is not barred by professional confidentiality." ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer B Hazardous Waste Supervisor" ;
proeth:principleclass "Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure" ;
proeth:sourcetext "If the material is hazardous waste, Technician A knows that certain steps would legally have to be taken to transport and properly dispose of the drum including notifying the proper federal and state authorities." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Confidentiality non-applicability to public danger disclosure resolves the tension in favor of regulatory notification; the client's business confidentiality interest does not override mandatory hazardous waste reporting obligations." ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer B tells Technician A that since the client does other business with the firm, Engineer B will tell the client where the drums are located but do nothing else.",
"If the material is hazardous waste, Technician A knows that certain steps would legally have to be taken to transport and properly dispose of the drum including notifying the proper federal and state authorities." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 149 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T12:35:30.888362"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 149 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
149
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
facts
First discovered
2026-03-01T12:17:34.345863+00:00
First case
149
Generated
2026-03-01T12:17:34.345863+00:00
Attributed to
Case 149 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T12:35:30.888362
Generated by
ProEthica Case 149 Extraction