BER Case 90-5 Engineer Confidentiality Non-Override Structural Safety
O · Obligation
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/59#BER_Case_90-5_Engineer_Confidentiality_Non-Override_Structural_Safety
Properties
Instance of
ConfidentialityNon-OverrideofImminentStructuralSafetyObligation
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ConfidentialityNon-OverrideofImminentStructuralSafetyObligation
Case context
Engineer was retained as an expert by attorney for landlord-defendant in a lawsuit involving non-structural functionality issues. Engineer discovered serious structural defects constituting an immediate threat to tenant safety. Attorney instructed Engineer to maintain confidentiality. The BER held that the public welfare paramount obligation pre-empted the confidentiality duty, requiring notification to tenants and public authorities.
Compliance status
unclear
Confidence
0.9
Importance
high
Obligated party
Engineer (BER Case 90-5)
Obligation statement
The engineer retained as an expert witness in BER Case 90-5 was obligated to notify the tenants and appropriate public authorities of the discovered structural defects constituting an immediate threat to tenant safety, notwithstanding the attorney's instruction to keep the information confidential as part of the lawsuit.
Temporal scope
Immediately upon discovery of the structural defects and upon receiving the attorney's confidentiality instruction
Source Evidence
Source text
Engineer discovered serious structural defects which Engineer believes constitute an immediate threat to the safety of the tenants.
Text references
Attorney instructs Engineer to keep the information confidential since it is part of the lawsuit (which it is not – the tenants included no safety-related complaints).
Consequently, Engineer had an obligation to notify the tenants and the appropriate public authorities of the danger.
Engineer discovered serious structural defects which Engineer believes constitute an immediate threat to the safety of the tenants.
The BER found that Engineer's obligation to protect the public health, safety, and welfare pre-empted Engineer's duty of confidentiality to Attorney and Attorney's client.
TTL
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@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix proeth-core: <http://proethica.org/ontology/core#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
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case59:BER_Case_90-5_Engineer_Confidentiality_Non-Override_Structural_Safety a proeth:ConfidentialityNon-OverrideofImminentStructuralSafetyObligation,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "BER Case 90-5 Engineer Confidentiality Non-Override Structural Safety" ;
proeth-core:competesWith case59:Faithful_Agent_Scope_Boundary_Engineer_A_Retaining_Wall_Engagement ;
proeth-core:defeasibleUnder case59:BER_Case_90-5_Attorney_Confidentiality_Instruction_Over_Structural_Defects,
case59:BER_Case_90-5_Structural_Defect_Discovery_During_Expert_Witness_Engagement ;
proeth-core:prevailsOver case59:Faithful_Agent_Scope_Boundary_Engineer_A_Retaining_Wall_Engagement ;
proeth:casecontext "Engineer was retained as an expert by attorney for landlord-defendant in a lawsuit involving non-structural functionality issues. Engineer discovered serious structural defects constituting an immediate threat to tenant safety. Attorney instructed Engineer to maintain confidentiality. The BER held that the public welfare paramount obligation pre-empted the confidentiality duty, requiring notification to tenants and public authorities." ;
proeth:compliancestatus "unclear" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Obligation" ;
proeth:confidence "0.9" ;
proeth:derivedFromPrinciple case59:Confidentiality-Bounded_Public_Safety_Escalation_Invoked_in_BER_Case_90-5 ;
proeth:discoveredincase "59" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-25T22:33:26.882360+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "59" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-25T22:33:26.882360+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:obligatedparty "Engineer (BER Case 90-5)" ;
proeth:obligationclass "Confidentiality Non-Override of Imminent Structural Safety Obligation" ;
proeth:obligationstatement "The engineer retained as an expert witness in BER Case 90-5 was obligated to notify the tenants and appropriate public authorities of the discovered structural defects constituting an immediate threat to tenant safety, notwithstanding the attorney's instruction to keep the information confidential as part of the lawsuit." ;
proeth:sourcetext "Engineer discovered serious structural defects which Engineer believes constitute an immediate threat to the safety of the tenants." ;
proeth:temporalscope "Immediately upon discovery of the structural defects and upon receiving the attorney's confidentiality instruction" ;
proeth:textreferences "Attorney instructs Engineer to keep the information confidential since it is part of the lawsuit (which it is not – the tenants included no safety-related complaints).",
"Consequently, Engineer had an obligation to notify the tenants and the appropriate public authorities of the danger.",
"Engineer discovered serious structural defects which Engineer believes constitute an immediate threat to the safety of the tenants.",
"The BER found that Engineer's obligation to protect the public health, safety, and welfare pre-empted Engineer's duty of confidentiality to Attorney and Attorney's client." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 59 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-25T22:42:18.052936"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 59 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
59
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-02-25T22:33:26.882360+00:00
First case
59
Generated
2026-02-25T22:33:26.882360+00:00
Attributed to
Case 59 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-25T22:42:18.052936
Generated by
ProEthica Case 59 Extraction