Engineer A Confidentiality vs. Public Safety Competing Duties
S · State
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/84#Engineer_A_Confidentiality_vs._Public_Safety_Competing_Duties
Properties
Instance of
ConfidentialityObligationvs.ImminentPublicDangerCompetingDutiesState
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ConfidentialityObligationvs.ImminentPublicDangerCompetingDutiesState
Active period
From the moment the client disclosed the out-of-scope safety violations to Engineer A through the conclusion of the engagement without escalation
Affected parties
Building occupants
Client
Engineer A
General public
Prospective purchasers
Confidence
0.95
Importance
high
Subject
Engineer A's simultaneous obligations to maintain client confidentiality and to protect occupant/public safety regarding disclosed code violations
Terminated by
Not terminated — Engineer A 'went along' without resolving the conflict in favor of public safety
Triggering event
Client's voluntary disclosure of safety-relevant code violations in systems outside Engineer A's domain, combined with client's stated intent to sell the building 'as is' and the existing confidentiality agreement
Urgency level
high
Source Evidence
Source text
The facts presented in this case raise a conflict between two basic ethical obligations of an engineer: The obligation of the engineer to be faithful to the client and not to disclose confidential information...and the obligation of the engineer to hold paramount the public health and safety
Text references
The facts presented in this case raise a conflict between two basic ethical obligations of an engineer: The obligation of the engineer to be faithful to the client and not to disclose confidential information...and the obligation of the engineer to hold paramount the public health and safety
matters of public health and safety must take precedence. The Code of Ethics is clear on this point. Section I.1. employs the word 'paramount'
TTL
@prefix case84: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/84#> .
@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#> .
case84:Engineer_A_Confidentiality_vs._Public_Safety_Competing_Duties a proeth:ConfidentialityObligationvs.ImminentPublicDangerCompetingDutiesState,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Engineer A Confidentiality vs. Public Safety Competing Duties" ;
proeth:activeperiod "From the moment the client disclosed the out-of-scope safety violations to Engineer A through the conclusion of the engagement without escalation" ;
proeth:affectedparties "Building occupants",
"Client",
"Engineer A",
"General public",
"Prospective purchasers" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "State" ;
proeth:confidence "0.95" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "84" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "1" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T13:32:42.161515+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "84" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T13:32:42.161515+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:sourcetext "The facts presented in this case raise a conflict between two basic ethical obligations of an engineer: The obligation of the engineer to be faithful to the client and not to disclose confidential information...and the obligation of the engineer to hold paramount the public health and safety" ;
proeth:stateclass "Confidentiality Obligation vs. Imminent Public Danger Competing Duties State" ;
proeth:subject "Engineer A's simultaneous obligations to maintain client confidentiality and to protect occupant/public safety regarding disclosed code violations" ;
proeth:terminatedby "Not terminated — Engineer A 'went along' without resolving the conflict in favor of public safety" ;
proeth:textreferences "The facts presented in this case raise a conflict between two basic ethical obligations of an engineer: The obligation of the engineer to be faithful to the client and not to disclose confidential information...and the obligation of the engineer to hold paramount the public health and safety",
"matters of public health and safety must take precedence. The Code of Ethics is clear on this point. Section I.1. employs the word 'paramount'" ;
proeth:triggeringevent "Client's voluntary disclosure of safety-relevant code violations in systems outside Engineer A's domain, combined with client's stated intent to sell the building 'as is' and the existing confidentiality agreement" ;
proeth:urgencylevel "high" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 84 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T13:56:58.158700"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 84 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
84
Discovered in pass
1
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T13:32:42.161515+00:00
First case
84
Generated
2026-03-01T13:32:42.161515+00:00
Attributed to
Case 84 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T13:56:58.158700
Generated by
ProEthica Case 84 Extraction