Client Report Suppression Prohibition Invoked in BER Case 76-4
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/59#Client_Report_Suppression_Prohibition_Invoked_in_BER_Case_76-4
Properties
Instance of
ClientReportSuppressionProhibition
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ClientReportSuppressionProhibition
Applied to
Client instruction to suppress written report
Client's subsequent misleading public hearing presentation
Water quality discharge findings below regulatory standards
Balancing with
Client Loyalty
Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits
Concrete expression
In BER Case 76-4, the engineer's obligation to report water quality violations below regulatory standards was not extinguished when the client paid the engineer, terminated the contract, and instructed the engineer not to file a written report — particularly after the client appeared at a public hearing with data purporting to show compliance
Confidence
0.92
Importance
high
Interpretation
Payment and contract termination do not extinguish the engineer's obligation to report safety-relevant findings; the client's subsequent use of misleading data at a public hearing reinforced the engineer's duty to disclose
Invoked by
Water Quality Client Suppressing Report
Tension resolution
Public welfare obligation pre-empted client's authority to suppress the written report; the engineer retained a duty to report despite payment and termination
Source Evidence
Source text
Client instructs Engineers not to file a written report, pays Engineer, and terminates the contract. Engineer learns that Client appeared at a public hearing with data showing compliance.
Text references
Client instructs Engineers not to file a written report, pays Engineer, and terminates the contract.
Engineer learns that Client appeared at a public hearing with data showing compliance.
Public health, safety, and welfare are the paramount concern of every engineer and pre-empt any obligation to clients.
TTL
@prefix case59: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/59#> .
@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#> .
case59:Client_Report_Suppression_Prohibition_Invoked_in_BER_Case_76-4 a proeth:ClientReportSuppressionProhibition,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Client Report Suppression Prohibition Invoked in BER Case 76-4" ;
proeth:appliedto "Client instruction to suppress written report",
"Client's subsequent misleading public hearing presentation",
"Water quality discharge findings below regulatory standards" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Client Loyalty",
"Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "In BER Case 76-4, the engineer's obligation to report water quality violations below regulatory standards was not extinguished when the client paid the engineer, terminated the contract, and instructed the engineer not to file a written report — particularly after the client appeared at a public hearing with data purporting to show compliance" ;
proeth:confidence "0.92" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "59" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-25T22:31:41.475585+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "59" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-25T22:31:41.475585+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "Payment and contract termination do not extinguish the engineer's obligation to report safety-relevant findings; the client's subsequent use of misleading data at a public hearing reinforced the engineer's duty to disclose" ;
proeth:invokedby "Water Quality Client Suppressing Report" ;
proeth:principleclass "Client Report Suppression Prohibition" ;
proeth:sourcetext "Client instructs Engineers not to file a written report, pays Engineer, and terminates the contract. Engineer learns that Client appeared at a public hearing with data showing compliance." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Public welfare obligation pre-empted client's authority to suppress the written report; the engineer retained a duty to report despite payment and termination" ;
proeth:textreferences "Client instructs Engineers not to file a written report, pays Engineer, and terminates the contract.",
"Engineer learns that Client appeared at a public hearing with data showing compliance.",
"Public health, safety, and welfare are the paramount concern of every engineer and pre-empt any obligation to clients." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 59 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-25T22:42:18.051024"^^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
2026-02-25T22:31:41.475585+00:00
First case
59
Generated
2026-02-25T22:31:41.475585+00:00
Attributed to
Case 59 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-25T22:42:18.051024
Generated by
ProEthica Case 59 Extraction